We are extremely sorry about the gap in posting. There was a problem on our end with management and duties which left the whole thing unattended. However, we are back again, with a slightly different team.

Hope you can stick around and let us bring you the latest in sports entertainment for India. 

- Team MSI. 

Continuing the test series between India and Sri Lanka, the 3rd test will be aired Live on Ten Sports India. 

The second Sri Lanka vs India Test match schedules are as follows:
August 8th
10:15 a.m. - 12:15 p.m. - Day 1 Session 1
12:55 p.m. - 2:55 p.m. - Day 1 Session 2
3:15 p.m. - 5:15 p.m. - Day 1 Session 3

The rest of the days, from 9th August to 12th August, follow a very similar timing.

Smith was a doubt after missing both practice days because of a back problem suffered during the tour match against Bangladesh A at Worcester.

But the opener came through his fitness test, although doubts must remain about whether he is in prime physical condition.

Smith’s selection meant South Africa made only one change to their winning line-up from Headingley, with strike bowler Dale Steyn ruled out with a fractured left thumb and replaced by Andre Nel.

England had made two changes, with Darren Pattinson and Stuart Broad dropped out in place of Paul Collingwood and Ryan Sidebottom. Sidebottom passed a fitness test yesterday on his recent back problem and will take his bowling attack including James Anderson, Andrew Flintoff and Monty Panesar.

The Edgbaston pitch looks is not expected to help the bowlers, although it could take spin later in the match.

The 4th Test of South Africa’s tour of England will air Live on Star Cricket India at the following timings.

6th August
3:28 - 5:30 p.m. - Test 4 Day 1 First session.
6:00 - 11:00 p.m. - Test 4 Day 1 Second Session.  

The rest of the days will follow a similar timing with Day 5 aired on the 10th of August. 

Dmitri Torbinski and Andrei Arshavin scored in the second period of extra time as Russia beat the Netherlands 3-1 last night to reach the semifinals of soccer’s European Championship. Roman Pavlyuchenko had put the Russians ahead after 56 minutes in Basel, Switzerland, before Dutch striker Ruud van Nistelrooy tied the game with four minutes of regulation play remaining. Russia coached by Dutchman Guus Hiddink will now make its first appearance in the last four of a major tournament since competing as an independent nation. It previously played as part of the Soviet Union, winner of the inaugural title in 1960.

The Netherlands, the European champion in 1988, had won every group-stage match by outscoring its opponents 9-1. Defender Khalid Boulahrouz was included in the Dutch starting lineup, two days after deciding to stay with the squad following the death of his prematurely born baby daughter. His teammates wore black armbands as a mark of respect. It was Russia that created the game’s first opportunity, with Yuri Zhirkov forcing a save from goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar in the seventh minute with a free-kick. Pavlyuchenko then headed an Igor Semshov cross over from 10 yards out. Russia goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev saved a 37th-minute shot from Van Nistelrooy and punched out a powerful drive from Van der Vaart after 44 minutes. The Dutch struggled to create clear chances until Van Nistelrooy tied the game. The Real Madrid striker dived to head in a freekick by Wesley Sneijder at the far post.

Both teams attacked from the start of extra time, with Van der Sar and Akinfeev both having to make saves in the first three minutes. In the 97th minute, Pavlyuchenko was denied his second goal by the crossbar after cutting inside and striking a right-foot shot from 20 yards. The Russians then wasted several opportunities as Torbinski couldn’t put the ball in from six yards and Kolodin sent a freekick wide. The teams remained tied at the end of the first 15-minute period. Torbinski, who will miss the semifinal after collecting his second yellow card of the tournament, put Russia ahead again with eight minutes remaining. He put a looping Arshavin cross into the net from close range for his second international goal. Arshavin then scored with a low shot, which went through the legs of Van der Sar, to end hopes of a Dutch comeback.

Russia will next face the winner of today’s quarterfinal between world champion Italy or Spain on June 26. Record three- time winner Germany faces Turkey on June 25 in the other semifinal.

Holland victorious yet again, saving Italy a seat at the QF

Holland were every bit as professional as coach Marco van Basten promised they would be as they outclassed Romania 2-0 to send Victor Piturca’s side home and hand Italy a Euro 2008 lifeline.

Second-half strikes from Klaas Jan Huntelaar and Robin van Persie at Bern’s Stade de Suisse Wankdorf earned the Oranje - already assured of a quarter-final berth and top spot in Group C - their third win of the tournament.

Defeat for the Dutch would have seen both 2006 World Cup finalists Italy and France eliminated, but even a much-changed Holland line-up were simply too good for Romania.

Italy manage to edge out France 2-0, getting themselves to the QFs

Italy beat 10-man France 2-0 in Zurich to advance to the quarter-finals with a little help from Holland’s victory over Romania.

Andrea Pirlo put the world champions in front with a 25th minute penalty after Eric Abidal had brought down Luca Toni inside the area.

Abidal was shown a straight red, leaving the French with a mountain to climb following the earlier loss of Franck Ribery to injury.

But Italy were still made to suffer before Daniele De Rossi’s 62nd minute free-kick took a deflection off Thierry Henry and found the back of the net.

The turn of events completed a terrible tournament for Les Bleus, who were held to goalless draw against Romania in their Group C opener before being hammered 4-1 by Holland.

Romania’s 2-0 defeat to Holland saw Italy finish second in the group behind the Dutch. They will now take on Group D winners Spain on Sunday in Vienna but the Azzurri will have to do without key players Pirlo and Gennaro Gattuso, both among a plethora of cautions against the French.

Goal.com has put up some really nice team profiles for the upcoming Euro 2008 games. 

Team Profile: Switzerland
Switzerland is home to football’s governing bodies, FIFA and UEFA, but looking at the competition, Salvatore Landolina, believes it’s unlikely the host nation will get near the trophy this summer.

However, coach Kuhn is a genius at organising his side and he prefers to use a 4-4-2 diamond formation with Udinese’s Gokhan Inler playing the holding role which is identical to that played by Andrea Pirlo at Milan. The formation has worked well in the past. Last year Kuhn’s side beat Holland 2-1 and they held Argentina’s superstar’s to a 1-1 draw.  

He has shown that it can work but that all depends on how his side cope with the pressures of a major tournament as this is no friendly competition.

Team: Germany
Germany have by far been the most successful side when it comes to the European Championships, the Germans won the European Championship three times: 1972, 1980 and 1996. Germany had a miserable Euro 2004 campaign where they failed to register a single win and went out of the competition in the group stages itself. The Germans will be keen to make up for their disappointment in Euro 04 and win their fourth European Championship title. 

German Captain Michael Ballack is tipped to be key player for the Germans but one cannot forget star striker Miroslav Klose who has been exceptional for both club and country. Another potential star of the Euros is 22-year old striker Mario Gomez who has been on a goal scoring spree for his club VfB Stuttgart scoring 19 times in 25 matches and he was named German player of the year in 2007. read all »

So Sharapova is out. What?! Yes, Dinara Safina blind-sided top seed Maria Sharapova 6-7 (6-8), 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 in a Monday shock at the French Open which could leave the Russian’s number one ranking vulnerable.

Sharapova, who needed three sets to win two of her three previous matches at Roland Garros, failed to capitalise on a 5-2 lead in the second set after claiming the first and slipped from a 5-2 lead in the final-set tiebreaker.

“After you don’t take those opportunities it can go in the wrong direction really fast,” said the disconsolate three-time Grand Slam champion. ”It just started going that way, it’s just one of those days where that happened.” She now fears losing her World Number 1 title, with rivals Ana Ivanovic, Jelena Jankovic and Svetlana Kusntesova all in with a chance of taking over. 

Safina will now face Dementieva at the quarter finals. 

On the other hand Nadal and Federer have both progressed over to the Quarter finals. 

No. 1 seed Roger Federer battled his own lapses in concentration as well as a gutsy performance from local boy Julien Benneteau to move into the quarter-finals, 6-4 7-5 7-5 in a rain-interrupted two-and-a-half hour match.

Rafael Nadal maintained his unbeaten record at Roland Garros as he moved smoothly into the quarter-finals with a straight sets win over No. 22 seed Fernando Verdasco in an all-Spanish fourth round encounter. Nadal then defeated Almagro and has advanced to the Semi-finals to face Djokovic. 

Catch the Semi Finals (Men’s and Women’s Singles, and Women’s Doubles) on 4th June at 5:30 p.m IST on Star Sports India. For complete list of timings visit our French Open TV schedule post.

Not much has changed since we posted about the last baseball game, we are still not familiar with the game. 

The Royals have had a terrible losing streak. Fortunately for the Royals, they can now take solace in the fact that it’s over. And with back-to-back wins to close out their homestand, it looks like the healing has already begun. That process began on Saturday when closer Joakim Soria recorded the final out to put an end to the agony.

Prior to the losing streak, Kansas City appeared to be on the right track, sitting just a game below .500 and right in the thick of the American League Central standings. Then, the bottom dropped out. Now, the Royals again find themselves in their customary position, with one of the worst records in the majors.

However, the team is already showing signs of fixing some of the things that plagued them over the last two weeks. One of those things: getting the job done with two outs and runners in scoring position.

The 3 hour game between New York Yankees vs Kansas City Royals will be aired Live on ESPN India on 7th June at 4:30 a.m. IST.

This one’s about Horse Racing which I know almost nothing about. If I’ve provided some wrong information, please don’t hesitate to correct me.

Ante-post favourite Lush Lashes heads a list of 18 fillies left in Friday’s Epsom Oaks at the confirmation stage.

Although Jim Bolger has yet to commit the Musidora Stakes winner to the race, she stands her ground along with stablemate Prima Luce. Aidan O’Brien still has seven contenders to choose from while Dermot Weld has left in Chinese White. Willie Muir has paid £20,000 to add Pretty Polly Stakes winner Saphira’s Fire to the field.

She will form part of the seven-strong home defence hoping to follow in the footsteps of the Henry Cecil-trained Light Shift who triumphed 12 months ago.

Cape Amber, trained by Peter Chapple-Hyam, who finished second to Lush Lashes in the Musidora, has been confirmed along with the Roger Charlton-trained Clowance and John Gosden’s Michita. Both horses claimed wins in their trials - Clowance in the Swettenham Stud Stakes at Newbury and Michita in a race at Goodwood.

The BBC Epsom Oaks Race will air on Ten Sports India from 7:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. on the 6th of June. 

The entries for this event are:
read all »

The Santosh Trophy kicked off on the 25th of May at Srinagar, and Jammu. The qualifier matches are not being aired on TV, but the quarter finals onwards will be shown Live on Zee Sports India. 

So far Punjab and Kerala have made it to the Quarter finals from Group A. On the other hand, Maharashtra and West Bengal are sitting strong in Group B. 

The tournament has not yet gone high profile due to which news is scarce. Check back here for detailed info on the Santosh Trophy. 

For now, the Group A quarter finals will begin with Punjab playing Team-E on the 5th of June, at 2:30 p.m. Kerala on the other hand will play Team-C at 5:00 p.m. on the same day. 

The build up for this race has reached a fevered pitch, this being the first Superbike event in US soil in over four years. Australian Troy Bayliss will attempt to build on his already imposing world Superbike lead when the championship returns to America on June 1 on a new and untried circuit, Miller Motorsports Park in Utah.

Originally conceived as a ‘playground’ for the owner of the NBA’s Utah Jazz, Larry H. Miller, the circuit, near Salt Lake City, eventually morphed into a project of massive proportions, and was opened in 2006 at a cost of over $100m. Since then, it’s hosted a number of major two and four-wheel events, including a round of the American Superbike Championship.

Now, world Superbike has signed a three-year deal with Miller, and Bayliss (Ducati), for one, is looking forward to the fresh challenge.

No superbike fan can miss this event, with the winners probably going down into the record books.

The four hour event will be aired Live on Zee Sports India at 6:00 a.m. IST on the 1st of June, 2008. 

If you miss the race, then there will be several reruns on the same day (2:00 pm/9 p.m.) as well as the following days. But it is no fun in watching a taped race is there!

Three-time defending champion Rafael Nadal and Australian Open titlist Novak Djokovic were easy winners Wednesday at the 2008 French Open, where much nicer weather was the order of the day following two days of rain in Paris.

The world No. 2 Nadal improved to 22-0 lifetime at Roland Garros by erasing Brazilian qualifier Thomaz Bellucci 7-5, 6-3, 6-1 in opening-round play on his beloved red clay. Nadal has since advanced to the 4th round taking down Devilder (FRA) in the 2nd round and Nieminen in the 3rd. Gulbis has also been selected for the 4th round. read all »