Sports India

GLOUCESTERSHIRE achieved a thrilling last-ball victory after being seemingly condemned to defeat when Worcestershire needed only three runs off the last three balls to win. Jon Lewis kept his head to bowl successive dot balls at Roger Sillence, who could not lay a bat on any of them, before the Royals took a bye.

With ten needed off the last over, Gareth Batty had taken 2, 4, 1 off the first three balls. Sillence, playing against his old county, had batted superbly up to that point, making 22 off his first ten balls, but was out-thought by Lewis, whose exclusion from the England one-day side continues to make no sense.

Lewis’s dramatic last over overshadowed a brilliant 92 off 61 balls by Vikram Solanki, who was released by England yesterday morning. His dismissal in the eighteenth over, however, proved crucial.

The highlight of the Gloucestershire innings was a remarkable sequence of hitting by Ian Harvey. The Victorian exploded into life in the third over, bowled by Zaheer Khan, crashing the last four balls for 6, 4, 4, 4. When he got the strike back in the next over, bowled by Sillence, Harvey struck the next three balls for 4, 6, 4.

Harvey’s fireworks were followed by uninspiring batting until Chris Taylor swept three consecutive sixes off Daryl Mitchell. His enterprising 61 took him 37 balls and gave his side something to bowl at.

For the up and coming drivers in the country aspiring to enter the Formula One race, India`s lone F1 driver Narain Karthikeyan yesterday launched the Amaron-NK Racing Academy to nurture young talents.

“The academy, the first of its kind in the country, will identify and nurture young talent and give leverage to the existing racing infrastructure in the country,” Karthikeyan said launching the academy.

The initial activities of the academy would be held at the Kari Motor Speedway in Coimbatore.

“The activities will begin with racing workshops. It will also conduct training programmes for the up and coming talent,” the Williams test driver said.

Two brand names have joined in their endeavour to produce motor racing champions. Leading battery maker Amara Raja Batteries, in association with champion racer Narain Karthikeyan, announced the establishment of the Amaron-NK Racing Academy, the first of its kind in the country.

At a media briefing here yesterday, Jayadev Galla, managing director, Amara Raja Batteries Limited, said ‘we have been associated with Narain since his early racing days. We are strengthening our association by extending the contract. This is our long-term commitment to the promotion of motor-sport and motor-racing in the country from the junior school level.’

Stressing on the long-term association with Amaron, Karthikeyan said he was delighted to continue as brand ambassador for Amaron. ‘It is important to nurture and support the sportspersons in their pursuit to bring glory. There is the common cause of nurturing and promoting the sport. By starting an academy, we are committing resources and time to the cause.’

Dashing wicketkeeper-batsman, M S Dhoni, has been voted as the Pepsi & MTV Youth Icon 2006.
Dashing wicketkeeper-batsman, M S Dhoni, has been voted as the Pepsi & MTV Youth Icon 2006. He joins the ranks of industrialist, Anil Ambani, filmstar Shah Rukh Khan, who have been the Youth Icons in the previous years.

This year’s finalists were Navjot Singh Sidhu (Television), Abhijeet Sawant (Music), Dr Vijay Mallaya (Business), President of India Dr A P J Abdul Kalam (Science), John Abraham (Films) and Dhoni in the sports category.

A press release issued here last Friday said Dhoni won the hearts of young India with the maximum number of votes out of the lakhs that came online and through sms.The six finalists were selected after a comprehensive 10 city study conducted by IMRB, a leading research agency.

The sample size included youngsters aged 15 and 24 from 10 cities of Ahmedabad, Chennai, Chandigarh, Hyderabad, Indore, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, New Delhi and Pune, post which they voted for their favourite icon.An MTV Youth Icon TV special with Dhoni will be announced later, the release said.

Yorkshire lost their place at the top of the North Division after David Hussey and Chris Read helped Nottinghamshire earn a 21-run win at Trent Bridge.

The hosts, looking for their second Twenty20 Cup win of the season, posted 195 for four after Hussey’s 58 off 30 balls and Read’s quickfire 48.

Paul Franks and Mark Ealham took two wickets each as the visitors reached 174 for six, with Darren Lehmann hitting 48 in vain.

Min Patel picked up a four-wicket haul as Kent defeated Middlesex at Lord’s by 17 runs.

Kent had set the hosts 183 to win following big hitting from opener Darren Stevens, who struck 69 from 43 balls.

Patel’s victims included Scott Styris, who had struck 54 to get Middlesex within sight of victory, but they eventually made 165 for seven.

Sourav Ganguly and David Sales steered Northamptonshire to victory over Worcestershire at New Road, their first Twenty20 Cup win of the season.

Zaheer Khan struck 26 of the hosts’ total of 86, with Ben Phillips and Matthew Nicholson both picking up three wickets for 12 runs.

Usman Afzaal departed early for the Steelbacks but Ganguly and Sales remained at the crease to ensure a nine-wicket win.

Gloucestershire snatched a dramatic three-run win over Warwickshire at Edgbaston after a nerveless final over from England seamer Jon Lewis.

Mark Hardinges’ half-century - his first in the competition - has underpinned Gloucestershire’s total of 188 for six from their 20 overs.

Michael Powell (36) and Heath Streak (30) put the Bears on course for victory but Tony Frost, who had reached 33 off 13 balls, could not finish the job off the last ball.

Durham skipper Dale Benkenstein led by example, hitting an unbeaten half-century as his side defeated Lancashire by six wickets at Chester-le-Street.

Lancashire, who reached last year’s final, could only muster 135 for nine, with Simon Marshall contributing 47.

Tom Smith picked up two early wickets but Phil Mustard’s 38 and Benkenstein’s unbeaten 56 ensured victory for the hosts.

Adam Griffith and David Masters picked up three wickets each as Leicestershire crushed Derbyshire by 86 runs at the County Ground.

Opener Darren Maddy struck 50 and Paul Nixon added 42 as the 2004 winners reached 204 for six.

The hosts never looked likely to overhaul the target and they were bowled out for 118 with three overs remaining.

Essex skipper Ronnie Irani struck an unbeaten 81 to steer his side home by seven wickets at Chelmsford against Hampshire.

The visitors only made 158 from their 20 overs, Chris Benham contributing 59 of those runs.

Irani’s 81 from 48 balls meant the hosts claimed victory after just 16.4 overs of their innings.

Champions Somerset lost by one wicket to Glamorgan in a dramatic finale at Sophia Gardens.

Justin Langer’s unbeaten 76, and 52 from fellow Australian Cameron White, helped the visitors reach 185 for three.

Richard Grant (51) got Glamorgan’s chase off to whirlwind start, before Mark Wallace added 35 and Robert Croft chipped in with 21. Victory was secured by final pair Andrew Davies and Mark Cosgrove on the final ball.

Yasir Arafat’s impressive bowling inspired Sussex to five-wicket win over Surrey at Hove.

Arafat’s four wickets for 21 helped restrict the visitors to 123, the hosts wrapping up the innings a ball short of the full 20 overs.

Murray Goodwin and Matt Prior got Sussex off to a positive start - they combined to reach 57 - and Michael Yardy’s 21 finished off the job.

Sourav Ganguly shone with the ball, scalping two wickets in as many overs, but once again failed with the bat, making just 10 runs, as Northamptonshire were held to a pulsating draw by Somerset in a Twenty20 match here.

The deposed Team India captain took two wickets after Somerset elected to bat first in the match and made 151 for nine in their 20 overs.

In reply, Northamptonshire could only manage to equal the score courtesy a brilliant not out 49-ball 64 by Usman Afzaal. Ganguly – once again – could not contribute much with the bat and made a hasty exit making just 10 runs off 11 balls.

The southpaw hit two fours in his short innings before edging the ball to Somerset keeper Carl Gazzard. Three Northants batsmen were dismissed for a duck as the hosts failed to get the required two runs off the last ball and settled for a draw.

However, Ganguly did well with the ball and took the crucial wicket of Keith Parsons (40) – the top scorer for Somerset – and added to the tally with another wicket late in the innings.

Earlier, Ganguly had scored only 15 runs against Warwickshire in his side’s 24-run loss at home in a Twenty20 match on Tuesday.

The former captain is here for a six-week stint with Northamptonshire as a stand-in for Aussie batsman Chris Rogers and is hoping to reclaim his spot in the Indian team on the basis of his county performance.

Meanwhile, Zaheer Khan went wicketless as Worcestershire lost their Twenty20 match against Gloucestershire by one run. The Team India discard conceded 41 runs in four overs.

Sourav Ganguly and David Sales steered Northamptonshire Steelbacks to their first Twenty20 Cup win of the season with an easy nine-wicket triumph over Worcestershire Royals at New Road.

They put on an unbeaten 68 after the Steelbacks had faced a modest victory target of 87.

Ganguly led the way with 44 not out - five fours off 53 balls - while Sales was undefeated on 34 - one six and four fours off 31 balls.

Earlier, Northants pace men Ben Phillips and Matt Nicholson had taken three cheap wickets each to skittle the Royals for 86 - 19.3 overs - their lowest score in the competition.

Grim Worcestershire have now lost their opening three matches and are firmly anchored at the foot of the Midlands/West/Wales Division.

Their innings was a disaster from start to finish after winning the toss.

They crumbled in spectacular fashion and after five overs were in all sorts of trouble at 18 for six.

Lou Vincent, caught at deep square leg by Andrew White, and Ben Smith, expertly snapped up by a fumbling Ganguly at mid-wicket, both fell in Nicholson’s dramatic first over.

Graeme Hick followed in the next over when he was trapped leg before by Phillips.

It was a disappointing exit for Hick, who before the start of play was presented with a canvas depicting key moments in his illustrious New Road career.

The presentation was made to mark his achievement of completing a century of centuries for Worcestershire when he scored 139 off the Northants attack in a Liverpool Victoria County Championship Division Two match at New Road last week.

Once the Steelbacks had got rid of the former England batsman for just two, they rapidly ripped out Steve Davies, Gareth Batty and Daryl Mitchell.

Davies departed to a slip catch by Sales with Batty being comprehensively bowled by Phillips. Mitchell was run out by a splendid direct hit by Monty Panesar from short fine leg.

The flood of quick-fire wickets was temporarily stemmed however by Stephen Moore and Roger Sillence.

They added 22 in six overs before Northants confidently slotted back into the wicket-taking groove.

Moore was smartly stumped by Riki Wessels off Panesar while Sillence was trapped lbw by Jason Brown.

Ray Price tipped in with a useful 10 before Zaheer Khan was last out after giving the Royals a much-needed lift with a top score of 26, which included four fours off 21 deliveries.

Northants paced their innings to perfection and suffered only one hiccup when Usman Afzaal was dismissed by a well-judged catch low down at extra cover by Vincent off Sillence.

After that Ganguly and Sales safely guided Northants to only their second limited-overs victory of the campaign with 21 balls to spare.

Toronto’s Daniel Nestor and Deauville, Quebec’s Frederic Niemeyer both kicked off their doubles draws in grand style, advancing through to the second round by overcoming a pair of imposing challenges. On the women’s side, veteran Maureen Drake of Toronto and Czech Nicole Vaidisova beat Marta Domachowska of Poland and Martina Sucha of Slovakia, 6-4, 6-4.

Nestor and fellow No. 3 seed Mark Knowles of the Bahamas fell behind early, but quickly regrouped and sailed to a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Lucas Arnold and world No. 3 David Nalbandian of Argentina.

With the win, the duo earned themselves a second round date with either Paul Goldstein and Jim Thomas of the USA or Belgium’s Kristof Vliegen and Switzerland’s Yves Allegro.

Nestor has more than just men’s doubles on his mind, as he and Russia’s Elena Likhovtseva will look to advance to their third consecutive Grand Slam mixed doubles final. They are the fifth seeds in London.

Meanwhile, in another quarter of the men’s doubles draw, Niemeyer and American Glenn Weiner were upset-minded as they went into the first round encounter with No. 13 seeds Mahesh Bhupathi of India and Alexander Waske of Germany. Bhupathi is a former No. 1 ranked doubles player and has won four Grand Slam doubles titles.

They moved onto the second round with a 7-6(2), 6-3, 7-6(7) victory and set up a match with either Ashley Fisher of Australia and Bobby Reynolds of the USA or Britain’s Martin Lee and Jonathan Marray.

Mahesh Bhupathi suffered one of his worst defeats in Grand Slam career as he and partner Alexander Waske of Germany crashed out of the Wimbledon men’s doubles in the first round here on Thursday.

Bhupathi and Waske, seeded 13th, went down 6-7 (2) 6-3 6-7 (7) to Frederic Niemeyer of Canada and Glenn Weiner of the US at the grass court Grand Slam.

IT is little wonder last year’s surprise Wimbledon smash Stephen Huss is smiling again.
Every time he walks past the All England Club’s honour board, the Melbourne battler breaks into a grin as his name is alongside the greats of tennis, after he won last year’s doubles championship.

But there is more to it than that. Huss, 30, is back with his partner, South African Wesley Moodie, after a six-month separation in which both faltered badly on the doubles court.

Huss, who yesterday successfully started his first Wimbledon campaign as a defending champion, likened the tumultuous period to what happens when a relationship ends.

Moodie, a talented singles player, was lured by Indian Mahesh Bhupathi, a four-time Grand Slam doubles winner, in a series of discussions behind Huss’ back in the latter part of last year and opted to move on.

The hurt Australian struggled to settle and played the rover’s card, having 11 different partners in a six-month spree.

Without success, Moodie came to his senses. The crisp-volleying Huss is the partner for him and they hooked up again three weeks ago at Queen’s.

“Tennis is life. It is a game, but it is still a business among a lot of the players and sometimes that can be disappointing. And people get disappointed, but at the end of the day everyone is trying to do the best thing available for them,” Huss said after the pair’s four-set victory over Daniel Marcos and Fernando Vicente.

“Sometimes they get it right and sometimes they get it wrong (and) basically what has happened is that they haven’t done nearly as well as what they would have hoped.

“They gave it five months and it wasn’t really working out, and I was sort of all over the place, couldn’t find anyone to settle with, which is what you want to do.

“When Wes became available again he contacted me and said, ‘I’ve screwed up. If you’d like to play with me again, I’d like to’.”

Given that their success last year has assured Huss of financial stability at the end of his career, the answer was, of course, yes.

And he did not make Moodie beg.

“No, nothing like that,” Huss said. “His game suits my game, so we’re back here.

“And really it’s just fantastic.”

Huss is a happy man, even though he and Moodie have not quite clicked in their two tournaments back together.

He has spent a rare month in the same place as his tennis playing girlfriend, Venezuelan Milly Sequera, who failed to qualify for the singles.

“She’ll be here for the weekend which is great. Absolutely. It’s the same as last year,” Huss said.

“It’s good to have her around and to talk. There’s not too many tournaments where the guys and girls mix.”

He is also closer to the courts this year with mates in a rented house in Wimbledon village, a clear indication that last year’s victory has had an impact on the bank account, if not his relaxed personality.

But Huss said even the financial gain had been small in material measures. “I haven’t gone on a binge of buying or spending, nothing like that,” he said.

“I’m not into sports cars. I’ve mainly invested the money and bought a few little things. A computer, new golf clubs, a few things like that, but nothing major. I feel very similar to last year.

“The only difference, pretty much, is when I walk up the stairs and see my name on the board. I just can’t stop smiling then. It’s a great honour and it’s fun. It’s great to see my name up there with all those players.”

Huss was watched yesterday by a spattering of fans, including his childhood coach, Greg Duns, and the mother and brother of an old junior doubles partner.

There might be a few more pals pop out of the woodwork if he and Moodie can match last year’s fairytale run. Either way, like yesterday, Huss will greet them with a smile.