The New Nation - Internet Edition

India look to openers for one-day success

AP, Dambulla

India will look to its in-form openers for good starts in the five-match one-day international series against Sri Lanka starting Monday, as the visitors seek to repair

pride wounded in the test series defeat.

Sri Lanka and India play the first one-day match in Rangiri Dambulla Stadium on Monday after the hosts won the test series 2-1.

India's much-vaunted batting line-up was largely subdued in the tests, with openers Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir providing what little punch the tourists could deliver, and one-day captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni needs their input again.

"In any form of cricket, whether in test cricket or one-dayer, the start is very important," Dhoni said Sunday.

"Sehwag is sort of a player who takes a bit of risk. He is a stroke player and there is a fair amount of risk involved. Whenever he gives a good start then we get a fair chance to win the game.

"He is in a very good nick. He and Gautam Gambhir have played well in the test series also. Of course they will have some added responsibility but no real pressure."

India had a morale boost when they crushed a Sri Lankan Board XI team by 92 runs in the only warmup game for the one-day series.

Dhoni said India's morale was strong despite the test series defeat, and the warmup match was encouraging.

"We were never low on confidence," Dhoni said. "You can say we have got used to the conditions a bit, to the wickets in Sri Lanka. Overall (the warmup) was good but an international game is completely different from any side game."

Sri Lanka's captain Mahela Jayawardene said his side must start from scratch for the one-dayers, putting little stock in theories of carried-over momentum from the tests.

"I am a great believer in hard work, doing little things right," Jayawardene said.

Sri Lanka's test victories were forged on the spin bowling of Muttiah Muralitharan and impressive newcomer Ajantha Mendis, but Jayawardene was now counting on his batsmen to show the way.

"In ODI cricket in general, putting runs on the board is crucial. But having a bowling attack that picks up wickets, you can fall back on that, but not everyday. We need to be very consistent," Jayawardene said.

India captain Dhoni said the introduction of Mendis in the Asia Cup - which proceeded the India tests - had made the difference for a Sri Lanka lineup that had not been at its peak since reaching the final of the 2007 World Cup.

Mendis picked up six wickets to turn the Asia Cup final against India in Sri Lanka's favor and carried on to set a new world record for most wickets in a debut three-match test series.

"Now in the middle they have two bowlers, previously it was (Muttiah) Muralitharan and we look to score from the other side. But now they have two specialist bowlers who don't really give loose balls to cash on," Dhoni said.

The squads:

Sri Lanka (from): Mahela Jayawardene (captain), Kumar Sangakkara, Sanath Jayasuriya, Mahela Udawatte, Chamara Silva, Chamara Kapugedara, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Chaminda Vaas, Muttiah Muralitharan, Dilhara Fernando, Ajantha Mendis, Thilina Thushara Mirando, Nuwan Kulasekara, Jehan Mubarak, Malinda Warnapura.

India (from): Mahendra Dhoni, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Virat Kohli, Praveen Kumar, Pragyan Ojha, Munaf Patel, Parthiv Patel, Irfan Pathan, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Rudra Pratap Singh, Yuvraj Singh, Subramaniam Badrinath.

Final round of Fed Cup Football resumes today

UNB, Dhaka

After a week's break, the final round matches of the Citycell Federation Cup Football Tournament resumes Monday with two matches on the day.

As per the revised fixture due to the break, Arambagh KS will meet Sunrise SC at Gazipur Stadium at 4:30 pm and Dhaka Mohammedan face Rahamatganj MFS at the Bangabandhu National Stadium (BNS) at 6 pm in the two group D matches.

Earlier, in a meeting with the representatives of the participating clubs on August 11, the tournament committee suspended the matches for a week due to wet outfield at BNS and public holidays.

The meeting also decided to include Gazipur Stadium as an extra venue for the tournament.

Dhaka Mohammedan SC and Arambagh KS have fair chance to confirm their quarterfinal berth as they already won their respective opening Group matches.

In the opening matches on August 7, the celebrated black & white Motijheel outfit edged past Sunrise Sporting Club 1-0, while Arambagh KS defeated Rahmatganj MFS 2-1

Dhaka Abahani Limited and Chittagong Mohammedan SC have already reached the quarterfinals from Group B.

SA Academy crush BCB Academy by innings and 63 runs

UNB, Dhaka

Hosts South Africa Academy team crushed visiting GP-BCB National Cricket Academy team by an innings and 63 runs inside three days in the 2nd four-day match at Laudiam in Pretoria on Saturday.

Roelof van der Merwe was the star of the match with a half-century and claiming seven wickets to his name in registering the emphatic victory for South Africa Academy team.

After being forced to follow on, BCB Academy were all out for 190 in 56.3 overs in their 2nd innings with Shamsur Rahman scoring 45 runs off 105 balls that featured six fours while middle order Nadif Chowdhury made 30 and opener Jahurul Islam 26.

CJD de Villiers captured four wickets for 66 runs while BD Walters grabbed three wickets for 20 runs.

Earlier, replying to South African Academy's first innings total of 417/10, BCB Academy were bundled out for 163 in 54.5 overs with Shamsur Rahman making 37.

Nasir Hossain 23, Ziaur Rahman 21, Nadif Chowdhury 18, skipper Suhrawardi Shuvo not out 14 were not able to avoid the follow on.

Roelof van der Merwe, the left-arm spinner, caused the major damage ton the BCB Academy's first innings claiming six wickets for 52 runs. He also scored 79 runs to enable the hosts in passing the 400-run mark.

Meanwhile, on completion of the 2nd four-day match, the three one-day matches between the two Academy teams are slated for August 20 (Dobsonville, Johannesburg), August 22 (Tukkies, Pretoria) and August 24 (Lenasia, Johannesburg).

The Academy team will return home on August 25.

China women take table tennis gold

AP, Beijing

China has won the gold medal in the women's team

table tennis competition, beating Singapore 3-0 in another lopsided matchup.

The top-seeded hosts were led by Zhang Yining, the No. 1 player in the world. They picked apart second-seeded Singapore with near-flawless execution, dishing out shots to the edges and corners of the table.

The Singapore team features three former Chinese athletes who went overseas in search of better playing opportunities. They went into the contest saying there was little chance of a win against the Chinese.

A near-capacity crowd at Peking University Gymnasium chanted "Go China" throughout the evening Sunday. Chinese President Hu Jintao and International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge watched from a VIP section.

Bangladesh face Australian Institute of Sports in 1st practice match today

UNB, Dhaka

Visiting Bangladesh national cricket team face Australian Institute of Sports in the first practice match at the Garden's Oval in Darwin on Monday.

The match will begin at 6:30 am Bangladesh Standard Time (BST).

Ahead of the Monday's encounter, the Tigers had net session and fielding practice at the Mararra Oval on Sunday.

Earlier, after reaching Darwin on Friday, Bangladesh skipper Mohammad Ashraful spoke about their target in the three-match ODI series. He said: "We want to show improvement all the way. This is a very challenging tour for us as Australia are a top side but we want to be tough and competitive and will fight all the way. We have the ability and hopefully we can bring our best cricket to this series."

Replying to a query, Ashraful said: "We've come to Australia a little ahead of the series. We'll play five practice matches before the ODIs and that would give us a good idea about the conditions here."

About the goals of the team, Coach Jamie Siddons said: "I am sure they (Australia) remember the loss to Bangladesh in 2005 and they will come hard at us every time they face us. We're an improving side and the objective remains the same here also."

"We've shown in the past that if we get to scores in the region of 250 then we can put pressure on the opposition. The drop-in pitches (here) also might suit us and if there is spin then that'll be even better," added the 43-year old coach.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh will play another three one-day practice matches against Australian Institute of Sports and one against Northern Territory Chief Minister's XI before the three-match ODI series.

The three other practice matches against Australian Institute of Sports are slated for August 20, 23 and 25 at the Gardens Oval, Darwin. The 5th one-day practice match against Northern Territory Chief Minister's XI will be held on August 27, also at the Garden's Oval.

Later, the three ODIs between Bangladesh and Australia will be held on August 30, September 3 and 6 at the TIO Stadium in Darwin.

Squad: Mohammad Ashraful (captain), Mashrafe Bin Mortaza (vice captain), Nazimuddin, Tamim Iqbal, Roqibul Hasan, Shakib Al Hasan, Alok Kapali, Dhiman Ghosh, Mahmudullah Riyad, Abdur Razzak, Shahadat Hossain, Farhad Reza, Mehrab Hossain Jr., Nazmul Hossain and Dollar Mahmud.

Standbys: Zunaed Siddiqui, Mushfiqur Rahim, Musharraf Hossain Rubel and Nayeem Islam.