Daily Sports News

Australia reclaimed topped one day ranking after their 111 runs victory against England in Nottingham, Australia in lead of 6-0 in seven match series must win the final match to enter the Champion Trophy. The main contribution for sixth one-day match for Australia is from wicketkeeper Tim Paine.

Tim Paine made 111 runs out of 148 balls with the total score of 296-8 went ahead of current world leaders South Africa in ODI and returned to top world ranking. Miserable defeat of England just leaves one defeat away to 7-0 series somewhat that never happened in international series of cricket. Captain Strauss was hurt by his team poor performance and cannot defend his team when few days remained to begin ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa. He described his team batting as a horror show and a poor performance.

An impressive maiden century by Umar Akmal and a five wicket haul by Iftikhar Anjum helped visitors Pakistan to a 146 run victory in the fourth ODI over Sri Lanka. The younger Akmal remained unbeaten on 102 runs of just 72 deliveries. Akmal along with Younus Khan put on 176 run stand and also broke the Pakistani record of the highest fifth wicket stand. The surpassed the previous record of 155 by Mohammad Yousaf and Younus.

Younus Khan won the toss and elected to bat, but Pakistan was soon in trouble at 130-4. Then came Umar at the crease and crafted an excellent revival of the innings and scored a magnificent ton. He had excellent support from his captain who played a role of an anchor making 89 runs of 111 deliveries. Elder of the Kamran brother’s Kamran also contributed 57 runs as he opened the Pakistani innings. Pakistan managed to set an excellent target of 321 runs with the lost of 5 wickets in there designated 50 overs. It was also a sad day for the Lankan spear head bowler Malinga as he conceded 26 wides.

Lankan batting was a disaster, as Mahela Jayawardene was bowled out at 19. Sangakkara did try to revive the Lankan innings but he was also sent back to the pavilion at a score of 80. Tharanga was the only one to offer resistance with a score of 80 runs but after his dismissal all chances of Lankans coming back in the match were over. Lankan team was all out in 36.1 over and could just manage a score of 175.

Umar Akmal was awarded the man of the match. Post this win Pakistan has been able to restore some pride as this was there first victory in the current series. Sri Lanka leads the series 3-1.

The first half of the day belonged to Pakistani Akmal Brothers but it was Sri Lanka who came out victorious in the end, giving them a first home ODI serious victory against Pakistan. Even though Pakistan posted a challenging score of 289 but the openers Jayawardene and Upul Tharanga made it look like child’s play. The opening stand of 202 for the first wicket made sure that Sri Lanka easily defeated the visitors to take the series 3-0. Jayawardene had not scored a single 50 against Pakistan in last ten innings but today performance of 123 of only 108 balls made sure that he removed all the doubts that critics had on his batting ability. Upul Tharanga played an important role in the Lankan innings by providing support to an aggressive Jayawardene after reaching his 50.

Contributions to the Pakistani score of 289 came from Akmal Brothers, Kamran scoring 45 and Umar scoring 66. Younis Khan contributed with 44 and Afridi with a quickfire 32 or 18 balls. For Lanka, Mathews bowled superb taking two wickets with a low economy rate of 4.10 runs per over, Murli even though took two wickets but was a bit expensive giving 6.4 runs per over.

During the Lankan Batting Pakistan managed to take four wickets but it was two late in the match as the openers have provided the rite platform for an easy victory.

It has been amazing for Sangakkara since he took captaincy and now has won both his opening series in the test and ODI format of the game. He scored the winning runs to sail Sri Lanka to a serious victory. Jayawardene was declared the Man of the Match for his impressive batting performance.

Pakistan managed to avenge their loss to Ireland in the 2007 World Cup, which knocked them out. Now they have ended Ireland’s dream run in the T20 World Cup and have joined S.A in the semis.

Wicket-keeper Kamaran Akmal, scored a sparkling half-century. He scored 57 off 51, as is partners frequently changed at the other end to propel Pakistan to 159 for five in their stipulated 20 overs after skipper Younis Khan elected to bat. Afridi scored a blistering 24 off 13 balls which included 3 fours. Captain Younis Khan failed to score as hr just managed 10 off 8 balls! But still they managed to put up a challenging total for Ireland.

Ireland, in reply, never really got going. Ireland lost opener Niall O’Brien early in their chase when the wicket-keeper was caught and bowled off a miscued hook by 17-year-old paceman Mohammad Amir.Paul Stirling, himself only 18, came in for his first match of the tournament with Ireland 13 for one but got off the mark first ball with a superb cover-driven four off left-armer Aamir.But the teenager, on 16, became the latest batsman to be bowled playing across the line against leg-spinner Shahid Afridi, who struck with his sixth ball and Ireland were 42 for two off seven overs. Despite a brave 36-ball 40 from their captain Williams Portersfield as the fiery pace of Pakistan bowlers Saeed Ajmal (4-19) and Umer Gul (2-19) proved too hot to handle.

With six overs left Ireland needed 72 more runs to win, John Mooney, trying to keep Ireland up with the rate, also fell to Ajmal after he was caught in the deep by Abdul Razzaq. Then Umar Gul, who took a Twenty20 international record five wickets against New Zealand, got in on the act by bowling Trent Johnston for a duck. At 99 for five in the 17th over the game was up for Ireland, who later saw four tailend wickets tumble for three runs in six balls.

Although pleased Pakistan were in the last four, Younus said their batting required improvement.

“We were still 20 runs short. It’s not possible all the time to score 150 and restrict the opposition,” he added.

“Especially against teams like South Africa, England and the West Indies, we need 170 plus.”

So, with this, Pakistan have kept their title hopes alive…. But they didn’t put up a great show against the Irish. So will Pakistan be able to hold on till the very end?

The English football team was having a field day against Andorra but the same couldn’t be said for their cricket team. Well, it was the opposite as they were completely outplayed, as South Africa won the match comfortably by 7 wickets.

The home side never got going and was all out for 111 as they lost their last seven wickets for 33 runs!!!!!!! For a side which appeared to be doing so well in the series against the Windies before the start of the T20 World Cup, this is a total shocker. South Africa gave an all-round performance, as they bowled, fielded and batted well, proving once again why they are favorites for the trophy. This puts S.A in a commanding position and their pace attack seems to resemble that of the Windies which struck fear in the heart of every opponent. This leaves England in a precarious position because they have to beat India and West Indies if they are to progress and even so these two victories doesn’t guarantee them a position in the semis…..

Steyn took Bopara with an inside-edge from the batsman hitting the stumps. K.P on the other hand started with boundaries off his first two deliveries but hit an Albie Morkel full toss straight to Vd Merwe who caught it in an extraordinary fashion. This came in the 6th over and England’s score at the end of it was 25-3. This is the lowest score in the powerplay section in T20 history! The English batting managed to put up an insignificant total of 111 as the rest of the batting fizzled out….Wayne Parnell, the new weapon in S.A’s pace arsenal ended up with 3/14. As S.A began their batting they looked out-of-sorts as Smith top-edged Broad to James Foster, who had to dive to take the skier, and Herschelle Gibbs looked out of sorts – and could have been run out twice. And the batsmen struggled against the English spinners as the required run rate went up for more than a run-a-ball.

It was good for the English until Kallis decided to crash their party. Any pressure on S.A disappeared then, and even Gibbs made a few shots to the rope and Swann over the rope for a maximum as they seem to call it in this format of the game. Then it ended as Kallis cut Anderson to the point fence to end up with 58 from 49 balls. The English pace attack seems to be toothless and their over dependency on Swann isn’t paying them any dividends either. They have ways to go if they are to succeed in the shorter format of the game.

India thrashed Ireland by 8 wickets to complete the group stages on a winning note. Ireland, despite improving their game in the past years, fell well short of matching up the Indians as they were 112-8 in a match reduced to 18 overs thanks to rain.

As usual, Dhoni won the toss and elected to field as he believed that due to the rain, the Duckworth-Lewis theory may come into play. And from then on, it was India all the way. J.P. Bray, Irish opener, has been having a terrible series and this match proved to be no better as he was bowled out by Zaheer for a duck after facing 7 balls. When Zaheer began his second over, Porterfield, was dismissed after a wonderful catch by Yusuf Pathan in the slips. Zaks was declared man of the match for his four wicket haul.

Then, if the Indian seamers proved to be bad for the Irish, it got worse as the spinners stepped up. Ojha, who is having a wonderful series, once again showed why his captain trusts him by taking KJ. O’Brien off an inside edge, on the first ball of his spell. It is amazing to see an orthodox spinner like Ojha, who lacks the carom ball, seldom bowls the doosra and other special deliveries, take wickets thanks to his flight and simple pace variation. But the Irish did strike back at the spinners, this time with sweeps as a few balls ran to the boundary. Moreover the Irish exploited the short boundary at Trent Bridge at Nottingham. And then R.West got himself run out thanks to his diabolical running because when he was run out, his leg and bat, despite being well inside the crease, were well, above it (didn’t touch the ground), and hence he was declared run out.

But as it has been happening in the previous matches, the Indians seem to relax a bit at the death, thereby helping the Irish to cross the 100 run mark, at a time when tight bowling could have restricted the Irish to a score well below 100. So this a major concern for the coach Gary Kristen as the Indians are yet to face serious opponents who would challenge their bowlers more than the Irish. But when it was India’s turn to bat, it was all smooth sailing for the openers Rohit Sharma and Gambhir who are in the top of their form. They played a sensible innings spiced with boundries. They steered India to the finish line, though Gambhir fell for 37 to West, the tone was set for a victory. As the captain too fell for 14, Rohit Sharma stayed till the end with a well earned half century.

So all is set for India to scorch the super eight. However the Indians have to improve their bowling in the death if they are to retain the coveted ICC T20 crown …

The second game between the Lakers and Magic was surely more competitive than the first game, where the Magic were thrashed 100-75 by the Lakers. Despite the fact that the Magic managed to push the Lakers to overtime, the pure leadership qualities and experience of the Laker enabled them to pull off another win, 101-96, thereby allowing them to take a comfortable 2-0 lead in the 7 match series. As they say, the best players in the world, are often team players and Kobe Bryant proved nonetheless….. In this game all he played a less prominent role, allowing his teammates to get more involved despite the fact he scored a team high 29 pts. But this plan did workout and hence his team mates, Gasol contributed 24 pts, Odom who came off the bench with an amazing score of 19 pts while Fisher had 12 pts.

But the Magic have a lot to improve to if they are to beat the Lakers as the Magic missed almost 20 three point shoots as though they managed 10 which kept them on trail of the Lakers. Had this three point counts been different, the series would have been tied 1-1 as the Magic would have returned home victorious. The next two games are to be held at Orlando, with the next game scheduled for tomorrow. The fifth game, if necessary, will also take place at the Amway arena, whereas the last two games being held at Los Angles. The Magic are, sadly, 0-6 in all time in the NBA finals. Once again, Howard was shunted out of the game being held to 17 pts and 16 rebounds,though he did passed around with superior efficiency. However the positives from this game for the Magic was that Lewis contributed 34 pts and Turkoglu scored 22. This shows the potential of the Magic team which if proves to be more cohesive and efficient can outplay the Lakers.

In the first game, as the Lakers rallied behind Kobe’s 40 pts to rout the Magic by 25 pts with a 100-75 win. But in this game,  Orlando cut the lead early in the 2nd half and held a two point lead (88-86) with less than a minute left in the fourth quarter. The stage was set for a nail biting finish as the Lakers equalized with 33 seconds to spare. But in overtime, all went wrong for the Magic as the Lakers used a 7-0 run to take the lead for good as the match finally ended after an array of nine free throws in favor of the Lakers.

Gasol in a post match news conference said “We’re in a good position right now” and how true his statement is as any team would love to have a 2-0 lead in the Finals. So as we approach the third game, fans of the two teams will be having different prayers….

One will be hoping to wrap the series as soon as possible as everything is going as per their will, while another will be hoping to comeback strong and turn the series in their favor…

On a day kissed by rain, Federer accomplished the unthinkable, he won the FRENCH OPEN. The mixed tears of joy and relief ran down Federer’s face as he won the coveted French open title, the only trophy missing in his gallery of impressive titles. The Swiss beat Soderling ,7-6 and 6-4 in less than two hours, on a day which could have been spoiled by rain. But all the elements were in Federer’s favor as Soderling hit the net on reply to Federer’s serve.

The match will be a true spectacle to many a Federer fan as he displayed his once exquisite form, hitting aces, dropshots, etc to thrash Soderling. The first set was won easily by Federer in less than 25 minutes as he took four break points and won the set 6-1. The only moment during the match when Fedex was unnerved was during the second set when a spectator ran onto the court with a Barcelona flag and tried to place a hat on Federer’s head. Truely a huge disappointment to the French authorities.

Federer lost three points in a row after this incident as Soderling leveled it 2-2. But Federer quickly recovered his composure to take the set 7-6 in the tie breaker by 6-1. This set lasted for 49 minutes as Federer produced four aces by service. In the third set, Federer won the break in the first game of the set, leading 1-0, then after that each player won their respective service games, and on the score of 5-4, Federer served for the match and won the third set and the match.

By winning the French open, Federer became only the sixth man in tennis history to win all the four slam titles, with Andre Agassi being the last man to do it in 1999, presenting him with the trophy. What an irony it was, to watch Agassi present Federer the trophy, to equal Agassi rival, Pete Sampras’s record of 14 grand slam titles.

“This was my greatest victory” said Federer although it was Soderling’s win over Nadal, the four time French Open champion, who was attempting to become the first man to win five in succession. Soderling, playing his first grand slam final, and watched by fellow Swede Bjorn Borg who has won this title six times said “You gave me a lesson how to play” and later said “To me you are the greatest player in history”.

Federer has finally achieved the French Open title can now and go on with the rest of his career without worrying about never winning the French Open……