Abu Dhabi—Saaed Ajmal starred with a
four-wicket haul to overshadow a fine innings
from Brendon McCullum as New Zealand struggled
against spin to be restricted for a below-par
211 in the series decider in Abu Dhabi. New
Zealand were at a great position at 138 for 2 in
27th over when McCullum fell to open the
floodgates. He tried to push a floater from
Shoaib Malik for a single but ended up tamely
pushing it straight back to the bowler. It was
the beginning of the end as Younis Khan
proceeded to suffocate New Zealand with spin.
Basel—Novak Djokovic
overcame Roger Federer on the world number one’s
home ground Sunday, carving out a 6-4, 4-6, 6-2
victory to win the Swiss Indoors title. It was a
Basel debut to remember for the 22-year-old
world number three as he turned the momentum in
his direction in a 24-minute game of the opening
set which featured five break points for Federer
and required six set points for the Serb to take
the early lead.
London—Captain John
Terry headed Chelsea five points clear at the
top of the Premier League yesterday when his
76th-minute goal secured a 1-0 home victory over
champions Manchester United. The eagerly-awaited
showdown had been meandering towards a
disappointing goalless draw until Terry was left
unmarked to glance in a Frank Lampard free kick
— with striker Nicolas Anelka claiming he got
the final touch. The victory took Chelsea to 30
points, five clear of Arsenal, who won 4-1 at
Wolverhampton Wanderers two days ago, and
United, who also lost to Liverpool last month.
Shanghai—Phil Mickelson eased through a crush
of spectators and into a courtesy van, telling
them he would sign autographs in front of the
Sheshan International clubhouse after he had a
chance to eat. His plate of food gone, he took
one last swig of his soda, rose from the table
and said, “Let’s go see who’s waiting.”
Mickelson proved to be as popular in Shanghai as
he is in the States. He said all the right
things at the opening press conference about his
responsibility to play in China to help grow the
game, and the two golf projects he is building
with an emphasis on teaching and attracting kids
and their families.
Guwahati—Australian captain Ricky Ponting
rated the hard-fought ODI series victory against
India in the same bracket as his country‘s World
Cup and Champions Trophy victories and one of
the “special” triumphs in his career. We have
won a lot of series here in India. But this one
(series triumph) will be up there with some of
the specials that I played in, including our
Champions Trophy and World Cup wins,” Ponting
said after Australia`s six-wicket victory over
India in the sixth one-dayer.
