Oram help New Zealand win Napier ODI against Bangladesh

Published>Fri, Feb 05 10 05:39 PM

Napier, Feb 5(ANI): A superb all-round display from Jacob Oram helped New Zealand crush Bangladesh by 146-runs in the opening one-day international at Napier on Friday.

Oram smashed the Bangladesh attack all around the ground for a rapid 83 off only 40 balls before going on to take two wickets as the tourists slumped to defeat.

Once reeling at 135 for five in the 27th over, Oram's rout helped power New Zealand to 9-336.

His was the fourth half-century of the innings, and the most eye-catching, while Neil Broom hit a career best 71 off 73.

Oram and Broom combined to heavily punish the Bangladeshis in a quickfire seventh wicket stand of 123, the best for New Zealand against all nations, surpassing the 115 scored by Adam Parore and Lee Germon against Pakistan in 1996-97, The Age reports.

New Zealand also had key contributions from Peter Ingram, who made 69 on his ODI debut, and Ross Taylor's 51 from 52 balls.

Bangladesh's reply got off to a good start, as opening pair Tamim Iqbal and Imrul Kayes put on 71 for the first wicket, but when Kayes (33) was caught by Brendon McCullum off Andy McKay the momentum was lost.

Skipper Daniel Vettori then claimed three for 33, Martin Guptill picked up two for seven and Oram backed up his batting with two for 33 as the visitors were bowled out for 190. (ANI)

Source: Web Search

India swimmers win five medals, including four gold

Published Fri, Feb 05 10 05:10 PM

Dhaka, Feb 5 (PTI) Indian swimmers began their campaign at the 11th South Asian Games today with a splash, claiming four out of five gold medals on offer and in the process set three new meet records here today. Olympian Rehan Poncha earned India the first gold with a timing of 2:12.65s in the men''s 200m Individual Medley. Poncha was followed by Heshan Bandara Unamboowe (2:13.68s) of Sri Lanka while local lad Mohammad Rubel Rana took the bronze with a timing of 2:19.03s. Shubha Chittaranjan (women''s 50m butterfly), Sandeep Sejwal (men''s 200m breaststroke) and Aaron D''Souza (men''s 100m freestyle) emerged winners with record breaking performance. Shubha was ahead of her nearest rival Miniruwani Shashiprabha Samarakoon of Sri Lanka as she clocked 29.49s, eclipsing the previous record of 29.71. The Lankan recorded 32.12s for the silver and Pakistan''s Kiran Khan (32.18s) settled for the bronze medal. Making it a hat-trick of gold was Olympian Sandeep Sejwal (2:21.03s) who easily pipped local lad Mohammad Kamal Hossain (2:27.54) as he bagged the top honours with a new meet record in the 200m breaststroke. India also bagged a bronze in the same event through Anoop Augustine, who clocked 2:29.99s. More PTI TAP AT

Source: Web Search

Jimenez shots into lead at Dubai Desert Classic

Published>Fri, Feb 05 10 04:56 PM

Miguel Angel Jimenez shot a 5-under 67 on Friday to take a share of the lead on the second morning of the Dubai Desert Classic.

The Spanish Ryder Cup player reached 8-under 136 with a birdie at the 9th hole - his last - to open up a two shot advantage over his playing partner Rory McIlroy. The young player from Northern Ireland, who share the first-round lead, shot a 70 to be two strokes back.

Welshman Stephen Dod completed a 3-under 69 to share the lead with Jimenez.

Jimenez had trailed defending champion McIlroy by three shots until a reversal of fortunes at their last hole.

While Jimenez sank his birdie, McIlroy drove into the rough, then put his 7-iron recovery shot into water short of the green and finished with a double bogey.

Jimenez sank at least four putts from beyond 15 feet while making seven birdies, and gave thanks to his temporary caddy - a Dubai flower importer and family friend.

"He may be in business now, but he did caddy on the tour for a time," said Jimenez. "And we have remained close friends and that is important out on the course.

"But it is only for this week whatever happens in the final round on Sunday."

Despite his late blunder, 20-year-old McIlroy still believed he could join Tiger Woods and Ernie Els as two-time winners of the event.

"I am happy with the situation heading into the weekend," said McIlroy. "Apart from that mistake at the last it was a really good day's work."

Scoring on the second day was much lower than it had been during the opening round as Thursday's fierce sandstorm had blown over. And with clouds in the Dubai skies accompanied by a threat of rain, it was a cool, calm morning.

Among those to benefit was 60-year-old Tom Watson who made five birdies before he too dropped a shot on the ninth green on his way to a 2-under 70. At 1-under after two rounds, he looked certain to make the cut.

Source: Web Search

John Terry's wife spotted reading novel about ups and downs of love

Published>Fri, Feb 05 10 04:40 PM

London, Feb 05 (ANI): John Terry's heartbroken wife Toni was recently spotted reading Marian Keyes' best-selling tear-jerker 'The Brightest Star In The Sky,' in Dubai.

She apparently seemed fidgety, as she constantly texted and talked over the phone, in between reading the book, while she lounged by a pool.

Meanwhile, her three-year-old twins Georgie John and Summer Rose laughed and joked around her, reports the Sun.

Toni flew to Dubai with her children and parents after Terry's alleged four-month fling with French underwear model Vanessa Perroncel was disclosed.

Perroncel is the ex-girlfriend of Terry's England teammate Wayne Bridge. (ANI)

Source: Web Search

Indian golfers credit Asian Tour for their success

Published Fri, Feb 05 10 04:30 PM

Sentosa, Feb 5 (PTI) Indian golfers, including star Chandigarh pro Jeev Milkha Singh today attributed their global success on the exposure they got by playing on the Asian Tour. From the likes of Jeev, Arjun Atwal, Gaganjeet Bhullar, Gaurav Ghei, Shiv Kapur, SSP Chowrasia, C Muniyappa, Feroz Ali to Anirban Lahiri all have excelled after launching their careers from the Asian Tour. India holds the proud record of producing the most number of Asian Tour Order of Merit champions, through Jeev in 2006 and 2008, Atwal in 2004 and Jyoti Randhawa, the country''s first Asian number one in 2002. Jeev, who holds six wins in Asia and is now an honorary member of the Asian Tour, credited the Tour for giving him the platform to launch his career. "This is where I started from and I will never forget that. I will always go back and support the Asian Tour. The way the Asian Tour has grown is fantastic to see. I feel and strongly believe that the Asian Tour will continue to grow and produce top-class players," said Jeev. Atwal, who has won seven times on the Asian Tour, said the region''s circuit, which has travelled to 19 different countries over the years, helped him shape well. "My first Q-school was in 1995 and just to learn how to make cuts and be in contention and finally win, all those I learnt on the Asian Tour," said Atwal. More PTI SSC AT

Source: Web Search

F.A. Premier League set to swing spectacular 1billion pounds TV deal

Published>Fri, Feb 05 10 04:10 PM

London, Feb. 5 (ANI): A TV deal to screen top club matches worldwide is set to get a whopping one-billion- pound bonanza to F.A. Premier League clubs.

Richard Scudamore, Chief Executive of the F.A. Premier League, is ready to announce the bumper windfall shortly after publishing the figures for deal.

The current global deal is worth 645 million pounds but the next three-year agreement will dwarf that, The Sun reports.

Negotiations are not complete, with the huge markets of China and Russia still to be settled.

But Scudamore is confident that he will now deliver the landmark 1 billion pound figure.

After being shared, each of the 20 clubs will get 50 million pounds each.

Prem football is the world's richest.

Domestic rights, taken up by Sky, ESPN and the BBC, are worth 1.8 billion pounds - making a grand total of 2.8 billion pounds. (ANI)

Source: Web Search

India-S Africa lock horn in battle for Test supremacy

Published Fri, Feb 05 10 03:05 PM

S S Ramaswamy Nagpur, Feb 5 (PTI) It will be a battle for world supremacy when an injury-hit India, determined to protect its number one Test team''s status, takes on second-placed South Africa in the first of the two-match series starting here tomorrow. While a series victory will consolidate India''s position at the top of the ICC Test ranking, even a drawn series would be enough for the hosts to retain their top slot which would entitle them to USD 175,000 and the coveted ICC Test Championship mace. However, the team under Mahendra Singh Dhoni, which has an enviable record at home, goes into the contest with their middle order in disarray, following injuries to the dependable Rahul Dravid and the dashing Yuvraj Singh, both of whom have been ruled out of the series. The cheekbone fracture which Dravid sustained during the Bangladesh tour, has created a rare void at the number three position as the right-hander has missed only one Test, previous to this one, since his 1996 debut. To make matters worse, there is also uncertainty over seasoned middle-order batsman VVS Laxman who, even though named in the squad, is yet to recover completely from the finger injury sustained in Bangladesh. Mumbai youngster Rohit Sharma, who led the Board President''s XI against the visitors in the two-day warm-up game at the old VCA stadium here, has been asked to stay back as cover for Laxman. More PTI SSR AY MRM

Source: Web Search