April 05, 2009 (New Delhi):India opener Gautam Gambhir's (167) extraordinary show with the bat powered India to a respectable total of 349/5 in their 2nd innings before bad light forced stumps on Day 3 of the final Test against the Kiwis.
In the morning, Gambhir on 9, and middle-order batsman Dravid on 28, kicked off Day 3 with the overnight total of 51/1. Gambhir looked confident as ever and started off well while the latter seemed to be in his usual sticky form.
Soon, Delhi batsman scored 51 runs off 76 balls and gave the required momentum to the Indian innings. Dravid followed patiently and completed his fifty runs in the 41st over with a classy shot off to the boundary. It was 57th addition to his Test half-century stack and with this effort, India crossed 150-run mark.
Both the batsmen not only saved the wickets in the first session but also played some nice strokes in and outside the boundary to take the visitors to 170/1 in the lunch break, adding another 119 runs to the overnight lead of 233.
Soon after the break, Gambhir smashed Southee's delivery off for a four to craft a well-deserving 6th Test century of his career. What a confident way to bring up the three-digit mark, similar to the one he hit against Australia in Delhi to get his ton.
An over later, Daniel Vettori scalped Dravid with the help of a superb take by wicketkeeper McCullum. The agile keeper moved to his left in anticipation of Dravid's sweep shot that eventually ended in his gloves.
India stood strong at 184/1 when Sachin Tendulkar came in to bat in place of Dravid, who has been consistent enough throughout the series, yet again showed his mettle.
What was being considered as master blaster's last Test innings in New Zealand, didn't prove to be a treat for the Kiwi fans. Vettori struck for the second time to cut short Tendulkar's (9) outing when he was caught at slips by diving Taylor.
VVS Laxman, who is in his top form, then joined Gambhir at the crease. Expectedly, VVS batted well to support Gambhir playing at 121 at the other end.
Laxman played patiently to open his account while Gambhir was seen racing towards his 150 runs and achieved the landmark in Vettori's over, claiming an average of 77.6 in Tests.
His splendid display with the bat triggered India to 269 at the loss of 3 wickets by tea break.
Laxman's resilience, once again, came handy for India as the right-hander raised his 39th Test half-century in the 87th over of the day. A stylish boundary from his bat got him to the mark.
And as Gambhir looked set to hit his double hundred, New Zealand pacer spoiled his party and came to the rescue for the Kiwis. The quickie caught the aggressive batsman plumb in front of the wickets to send him back on 167 runs off 257 balls. Yuvraj Singh stepped in next.
Yuvraj had just initiated his innings when Laxman (61) was removed by O'Brien. The pacer struck for the second time to clean bowled the classy batsman. Skipper Dhoni then came in at a time when India's position was already strengthened by some excellent knocks.
The left and right hand combination of Yuvraj (15*) and Dhoni (16*) batted till the time bad light forced stumps on third day.
On Day 2, riding on Zaheer Khan's 5-wicket haul, India wiped off Kiwi batting order for 197 and batted in their 2nd innings to score 51 at the loss of 1 wicket. New Zealand pacer Chris Martin got the breakthrough for his side to send back Virender Sehwag (12).
India dominated the second day to sweep all 10 Kiwi wickets that led to their 2nd innings batting in the last hour of the game. Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag opened the innings to extend their lead of 182 runs. But Sehwag's reckless display with the bat, yet again, saw him going back to pavilion in the second over.
Australia regain No.1 spot in ODI rankings
April 05, 2009 (Dubai):Australia has regained the number-one spot in the Reliance Mobile ICC ODI Championship after defeating South Africa by 141 runs in the first ODI of the five-match series in Durban on Friday.
Australia, which surrendered its top position to the Proteas after stand-in captain Johan Botha inspired his side to 4-1 victory in Australia earlier this year, had started the series trailing Graeme Smith s side by one ratings point. And such is the competitiveness at the top of the table that victory in the first ODI has given Australia a swing of three points as it now sits on 125 with South Africa on 123.
ICC Rankings
However, South Africa still has a chance to finish the series in number-one position if it wins the series 3-2 or better. On the other hand, to return home with the number-one tag Australia needs to win the series 3-2 or better while a 4-1 victory will put it on 127 ratings points and will drop South Africa to third position behind India on 121.
England's 3-2 victory over the West Indies has earned Andrew Strauss' side one ratings point as it closes the gap with fifth-placed Pakistan to just three. The West Indies has stayed in eighth position on 92.
Meanwhile, Sachin Tendulkar vaulted two places to 11th spot, gathering 703 points with an average of 44.37, in the ODI batsman ranking, which is led by Team India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
Dhoni retained the top slot with 815 points in his kitty, while left-hand batsman Yuvraj Singh (5th), Virender Sehwag (7th) and Gautam Gambhir (17th) slipped down by one rung each, an ICC release said.
Left-arm paceman Zaheer Khan, who figures 15th after sliding down by one step, is the only Indian among the top-twenty ODI bowlers. Zaheer has an economy rate of 4.86.
The bowlers' list is headed by Sri Lanka pacer Nuwan Kulasekara.
Yuvraj with 340 points maintains his fourth place in the list of top-five all-rounders, which has Shakib Al Hasan of Bangladesh on the top.
Button wins again in curtailed Malaysian GP
(CNN) -- Briton Jenson Button recorded his second consecutive Formula One victory for Brawn GP at the weather-affected Malaysian Grand Prix on Sunday.
Jenson Button mastered the wet conditions at Sepang, leading the field when the race was abandoned.
Button, who had qualified in pole position, was leading on the 33rd of 56 scheduled laps when the race was stopped after a thunderstorm broke at the Sepang International Circuit.
With the torrential rain refusing to relent and darkness descending on the track due to the late starting time, organizers eventually decided not to restart the race, awarding half-points to the top eight finishers.
Nick Heidfeld benefited from a decision to run a heavy fuel load as he finished second for BMW Sauber while fellow-German Timo Glock was third in his Toyota after a strong run in intermediates during a period before the heavens fully opened.
Jarno Trulli was fourth in the second Toyota, with Brawn GP's Rubens Barrichello fifth and Mark Webber sixth for Red Bull.
World champion Lewis Hamilton was seventh for McLaren with Nico Rosberg eighth for Williams. It was the first race to be red-flagged for rain since the 1991 Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide.
The result maintains Brawn's dream start to Formula One as Button leads the driver standings with 15 points, five ahead of team-mate Barrichello.
Rosberg got a great jump at the start, accelerating past Glock and Trulli and passing Button on the inside of the first corner.
Button looked out of sorts early and dropped to fourth after also being passed by Trulli and Fernando Alonso in the first complex of corners.
He regained third place from Alonso at turn 13 but it was Rosberg that held a 1.2-second lead over Trulli at the end of the opening lap.
Heikki Kovalainen was an early casualty, spinning his McLaren out on turn five of the first lap when something appeared to break on the back of his car, while Robert Kubica, who had started slowly in his badly-misfiring BMW Sauber retired on the second when his engine gave out.
Rosberg had opened a 3.3-second lead when he came in for his first pit stop on the 15th lap, handing the lead to Trulli, with Button in hot pursuit in second.
Trulli went into the pits at the end of the 17th lap handing the lead over to Button, who ran a fastest lap of 1:36.041 to maintain first place when the first sequence of pit stops ended.
The rain arrived on lap 22, bringing most of the field in for a change to wet tires and Hamilton was the biggest beneficiary as his first fuel stop helped to elevate his McLaren up to sixth place.
The Brawn had enjoyed little testing in wet conditions but Button showed his mastery of the conditions by opening up a 24.6-second lead over second-placed teammate Barrichello by lap 25.
But Glock was flying in his Toyota, moving up through the field rapidly on intermediate tires. Having swallowed up many of the other runners, the German took the lead when Button came in to the pits to change from wets to intermediates on lap 29.
It proved an untimely decision for the Brawn GP driver as the heavens opened up immediately after forcing Button into the pits for a fourth time to change back to wets but with Glock also stopping for wets, he managed to emerge from the pits in first place.
The rain intensified and Giancarlo Fisichella, Sebastian Vettel and Sebastien Buemi spun out in the treacherous conditions.
The safety car was deployed soon afterwards before the cars were red-flagged on lap 33 with Button leading from Glock in second and Heidfeld in third. Trulli was fourth at the stoppage with Barrichello fifth, Hamilton sixth, Rosberg seventh and Webber eighth.
With the rain refusing to relent and darkness approaching, the decision was made, 50 minutes after the stoppage, not to restart with half-points awarded to the top eight finishers. The results were counted back to the end of the 31st lap with Heidfeld taking second and Glock third behind Button
Soccer News
Late Benayoun strike puts Liverpool on top
(CNN) -- Substitute Yossi Benayoun scored in the second minute of injury time to give Liverpool a 1-0 win at Fulham to claim top spot in the Premier League ahead of Manchester United.
Benayoun cropped up for what could prove to be a vital goal in the title race.
Israeli international Benayoun smashed a right-foot shot past home goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer to leave his side two points clear of United, having played two games more.
Champions United, who have stumbled to successive defeats in the league to arch-rivals Liverpool and Fulham, play Aston Villa on Sunday.
Chelsea, who beat Newcastle 2-0 earlier on Sunday, have also moved into the title picture, but it is Liverpool who are mounting the strongest challenge to the reigning champions.
Before the international break they had scored 11 goals in their last three league games and thumped Real Madrid 4-0 in the Champions League, but Saturday's late kickoff looked set to end in a frustrating draw despite total domination.
Liverpool hit the woodwork four times through Fernando Torres and Xabi Alonso and Andrea Dossena twice with Schwarzer also pulling off a string of fine saves.
Roy Hodgson's Fulham, who have proved a thorn in the side to the top four sides this season, offered little attacking threat but looked set to ride their luck as the game wore on.
Just after the hour mark, Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez, seeing the possibility of extra points being squandered, threw on Dutch international Ryan Babel in place of Dossena.
Before the end Benayoun, who scored a crucial goal in the away leg of the Real Madrid tie, also came on for Dirk Kuyt.
It proved an inspired decision as he burst into the box to finally beat Schwarzer and send the Liverpool fans home happy.
"Now you're going to believe us, we're going to win the league," they chanted as their team hit the top again having thrown away the advantage they held at the start of the year through poor form in January and February.
Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard said the win put further pressure on United.
"It's a massive three points -- we knew a defeat or a draw was no good for us," he told Setanta Sports.
"We had to let United know they are in for a title fight until the end.
"There were times towards the end when I thought it was not going to be our day.
"But Yossi popped up with a fantastic strike and I thought it was the least we deserved," he added.
Tennis News
Injury-hit Serena beaten in Miami final
(CNN) -- An injury-hampered Serena Williams slumped to a straight sets defeat to Victoria Azarenka of Belarus in the final of the WTA Tier One tournament at Key Biscayne in Florida.
The strapping on Serena's thigh is clearly visible as she poses before the start with Azarenka.
Williams played with heavy strapping on her left thigh, clearly struggling with her movement in Saturday's final as Azarenka took ruthless advantage for a 6-3 6-1 win.
The 19-year-old Azarenka has charged up the WTA world rankings this year with two victories in lesser-rated tournaments and only two defeats.
The first came to Williams in the fourth round of the Australian Open where the mixture of a stomach ailment and heat exhaustion forced her to retire when leading by a set although trailing in the second.
Williams went on to take the first grand title of the season and move to top spot in the world rankings, but her bid for a sixth victory at this week's prestigious tournament hit the buffers.
A series of tough three-setters, including a semifinal win over sister Venus, had clearly taken their toll on Williams, but despite her incapacity she moved an early break ahead to lead 3-2 in the opening set.
But it proved a temporary reprieve as Azarenka started finding the lines with excellent ground strokes and took the next four games to close out the opener.
Williams was clearly a spent force and after bravely holding her service at the first opportunity was broken as Azarenka took a 3-1 lead.
A further break saw the lead stretch to 5-1 with Azarenka serving for the biggest title of her career.
Williams briefly rallied to save a match point and then force a break point, but it was only a temporary reprieve as a weak shot into the net on the second championship point handed her opponent victory after 72 minutes.
"I'm not one to make excuses, the better player won today," said Williams as she collected the runners-up trophy.
Azarenka, who will move up to eighth in the rankings after the victory, said her improved form this year was down to more self confidence.
"I just think I have improved everything since last year and started believing in myself a bit more," she said.
Williams must now hope she recovers in time to defend her title in the Family Circle Cup in Charleston in a fortnight as she bids to hold on to her top ranking
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