My Sports India: Match Previews, TV Channel timings, and important sports news stories

With the county season less than a few hours away many sides are still trying to come to terms with the impact of the two Indian leagues which are threatening to change the face of England’s domestic cricket. Already a number of players have had their registrations rejected after taking part in the Indian Cricket League (ICL), while the official Indian Premier League (IPL) is sending the powers that be into a frenzy as they try to keep up with the pace of change. So far the IPL has had a limited impact on English cricket but it won’t stay that way for long. Dimitri Mascarenhas, the Hampshire allrounder, is the only English player to be involved in the first IPL after joining the Jaipur franchise following a deal made with his club. Lalit Modi, the IPL chairman, has said that England players will be welcome at future events and doesn’t want to clash with the domestic season.

Giles Clarke, the ECB chairman, has made it clear that he doesn’t see England’s top players taking part in the IPL but there is a danger that the situation could run away from the board. Andrew Flintoff would be high on the list of any franchise and it has already been reported that the he and Kevin Pietersen have attracted interested. However, Flintoff isn’t interested in any offers at this stage although hinted that it could be an option in the future but Lancashire chief executive, Jim Cumbes, has warned that the English game must act quickly in finding a way of keeping its leading players happy otherwise the IPL will become a greater threat. “At the moment the IPL is standing off English cricket but I cannot see them doing that indefinitely,” he said. “The Indian leagues will have a big impact on cricket here if counties do not move quickly to set up something here - that’s my view anyway.

While the Twenty20 cup 2008 wont be as glamorous as the IPL, It is still going to be a great watch as some of the best players in the game will be taking part. The tournament gets underway on the 17th of June 2008 and will be telecast on Star Cricket from 22.00 IST onwards

Australia won the third cricket Test against West Indies in Barbados by 87 runs to take the series 2-0 after the home team failed to achieve a record victory target. West Indies, set 475 to win at the Kensington Oval, was bowled out for 387 in its second innings. The highest score to win a Test match batting fourth was its 418-7 to defeat Australia in Antigua in May 2003. Top-ranked Australia completes a ninth straight Test series win. It took the opener in Jamaica by 95 runs, while the second match in Antigua was drawn.

West Indies, starting the final day on 235-3, frustrated Australia for most of the morning before Dwayne Bravo and Shivnarine Chanderpaul were dismissed in successive overs. Bravo was the first to go, caught by Phil Jaques at silly point for 69 off the bowling of Beau Casson to end a 122-run partnership. He’d struck three sixes off spin bowler Casson earlier in the session. Chanderpaul became the fourth West Indian to score 8,000 Test runs when he reached 49, though added only 1 more run before being trapped leg before wicket by Stuart Clark.

The home team then lost its remaining five wickets for 84 runs. Jerome Taylor hit a Test-best 31 in a 42-run partnership with Denesh Ramdin, while Sewnarine Chattergoon, playing with a runner because of an ankle injury, made 13. Brett Lee ended the match by claiming his second wicket of the innings when Daren Powell edged to wicketkeeper Brad Haddin. Clark was the pick of Australia’s bowlers with 3-58, while Casson, on his debut, took 3-86. Australia had yesterday declared on 439-5 in its second innings after Simon Katich’s Test-best 157.

The Los Angeles Lakers avoided a second straight home collapse, beating the Celtics 103-98 to send the National Basketball Association Finals back to Boston. The Lakers, who surrendered a 24-point lead in Game 4 four days ago, twice blew double-digit leads last night at the Staples Center before pulling out the win to deny the Celtics a chance to celebrate their first championship in 22 years. Boston leads the best-of-seven playoff series 3-2 and hosts Game 6 tomorrow. A seventh game, if necessary, would also be played at TD Banknorth Garden, where the Celtics have a 12-1 record in the postseason.

Kobe Bryant led the Lakers with 25 points, including 15 in the first quarter as Los Angeles opened a 39-22 lead last night. While Bryant hit only 3-of-16 shots the rest of the way, teammates Pau Gasol and Odom picked up the slack. Gasol had 19 points and 13 rebounds, while Odom added 20 points and 11 reboundsAs happened in Game 4, Boston recovered its early deficit. The Celtics cut the Lakers’ 19-point advantage to three at halftime and took a 58-57 lead 2:01 into the third quarter on a free throw by Pierce. The foul shot capped a 34-14 run for Boston.

The Lakers regained a 79-70 lead after three quarters and were up by as many as 14 points in the fourth quarter. Boston again responded, with a 16-2 run to tie the score at 90-90, yet wasn’t able to go ahead. With the Lakers nursing a 97-95 lead in the final minute, Bryant stripped the ball from Pierce and scored on a two-handed dunk with 37.4 seconds left. The Lakers added four free throws in the final 24 seconds to seal the win. While Pierce had 8 assists, 6 rebounds and hit 16 of 19 free throw attempts for the Celtics, teammates Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen combined for 29 points and took only 9 foul shots. The Celtics now head back home, where they’ll look to claim a record 17th NBA championship. No NBA team has blown a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals.

Game six of the NBA finals between Lakers and Celtics will be telecast as a same day delay on ESPN at 14.00 IST on the 18th of June. Those of you who want to catch the game live, you can log on to NBA.com and catch the game live.

Ballack gets Germany into the Quarter finals

Michael Ballack booked Germany’s place in the quarter-finals of Euro 2008 after his thunderbolt free-kick earned a 1-0 victory in a hot-tempered clash against co-hosts Austria.

The Chelsea midfielder has been unhappy with his performances in the tournament so far but returned to the form of the last six months of the domestic season, lashing into the top corner just after the break at Vienna’s Ernst Happel Stadium.

It sets up a last-eight clash against his new club boss Luiz Felipe Scolari, who will fulfil his Portugal duties before being unveiled at Stamford Bridge later this summer.

Croatia chucks out Poland from the Euro Championship

Ivan Klasnic’s second-half goal made it three wins out of three for Group B winners Croatia and in the process ensured an early tournament exit for Poland.

Klasnic struck in the 52nd minute with the only goal of the game to earn a much-changed Croatia a deserved victory and continue their impressive start to the tournament - which has also included triumphs over Austria and Germany and will next see them take on Turkey in the last eight.

For Poland the unlikely task of claiming a quarter-final spot proved mission impossible.

Needing a win and a favourable result from the Austria-Germany game to continue their adventure in their first European Championship finals, they could find no way through against an impressive Croatia.

With Kubica’s win and confidence portrayed at the Canadian Grand Prix, one doesn’t know what to expect at France. Although, luck might have been on his side with Hamilton and Kimi taking a slight detour on route. 

Look at the Driver’s standings though, the top four contenders - Kubica, Hamilton, Kimi and Masa - are sure to have a tough fight at this race. 

Take your guesses now, cause the French Grand Prix is just round the corner. The Qualifying round will begin at 5:27 p.m. on the 21st of June.

The Race day itself starts at 4:30 p.m. on the 22nd. The actual race will start at 5:15 p.m. though if you don’t want to waste time with the pre-race events. And due to the Euro games, Star Sports will be broadcasting this event, thankfully, Live.

Following the briefest of respites, the relentless pace of the MotoGP World Championship resumes as the series heads to Donington Park.

The man leading the way in MotoGP is Valentino Rossi, the rider who has made Donington Park a home-from-home in his eight top cylinder category visits to the British track. The Fiat Yamaha rider will be celebrating his 200th Grand Prix appearance, and has won five MotoGP races at the circuit, including his first 500cc victory back in 2000.

The Italian is on a stellar run of six podium finishes from the first seven races of 2008, including consecutive victories in China, France and Italy. Second place in Catalunya, from ninth on the grid, at the most recent round reflected a performance that was vintage Rossi.

A gap of seven points separates Rossi from nearest rival Dani Pedrosa, the rider who took a comprehensive victory ahead of his rival in round seven. Repsol Honda’s Spanish star has also only once finished off the podium this season, with a 2006 victory at Donington Park in his rookie season adding further credence to his chances of a win there on June 22nd.

Will Rossi keep his position? Or succumb to Honda’s Pedrosa? I guess we’ll just have to wait and watch. The race starts at 4:27 p.m. on the 22nd of June, Live on ESPN India.

West Indies needs another 240 runs to avoid a Test cricket series loss to Australia after benefiting from three dropped catches to reach 235-3 on day four of the final match in Barbados. Australia set the home team a record 475 runs to win at the Kensington Oval after Simon Katich’s Test-best 157 led the top- ranked Australians to 439-5 declared in their second innings. A victory for West Indies would tie the three-match contest and deny Australia a ninth straight Test series win. The highest score to win a Test match batting fourth was by West Indies in 2003 when it made 418-7 to defeat Australia in Antigua.

The Caribbean team’s run chase was aided by the Australian fielders. Xavier Marshall struck 85, his highest first-class score, after Katich at third slip, then wicketkeeper Brad Haddin both failed to hold chances. His fellow opener Chris Gayle was dropped by Beau Casson during his innings of 26. Ramnaresh Sarwan scored 43 in a 95-run second-wicket stand with Marshall before being trapped leg before wicket by Michael Clarke. Spin bowler Casson claimed his first Test wicket when he had Marshall caught by Phil Jacques.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul will resume on 27 tomorrow, with Dwayne Bravo 30 not out. Bravo survived an lbw appeal from a full-length Brett Lee delivery and an appeal for a catch behind. Sewnarine Chattergoon is unlikely to bat on the final day because of an ankle injury. Earlier, Katich added 9 runs to his overnight score before being caught by substitute fielder Darren Sammy on 157. Andrew Symonds made 2, while Clarke finished unbeaten on 48 and Haddin 45 not out.

Catch the final day of the third test match between Australia and the West Indies live on Ten Sports today the 16th of June from 19.30 to 02.30 IST

Roger Federer beat home favorite Philipp Kohlschreiber in tennis’s Gerry Weber Open final today, extending his unbeaten streak on grass to 59 matches while Rafael Nadal claimed the Artois Championship in London.

Top-ranked Federer, who has now claimed the title five times in six years, defeated Kohlschreiber 6-3 6-4 in the Wimbledon warm-up event in Halle, Germany.`That was very special,” Federer told the BBC after taking his 55th career title. “I never lost my serve in this tournament, that had never happened to me.” The victory comes a week after the Swiss was outclassed by No. 2-ranked Nadal in the final of the French Open, the only clay-court Grand Slam tournament. Federer excels on grass, having won five straight Wimbledon titles. Federer, who pulled out of the Gerry Weber Open last year because of fatigue, has won 24 straight matches at the event.

Spain’s Nadal, runner-up to Federer at Wimbledon the past two years, prepared for this season’s event by taking his maiden grass-court title. He beat Serbia’s Novak Djokovic 7-6 (8-6), 7-5 at the Queen’s Club in London. Nadal rallied from 3-0 down in the first set to take it in a tie-break, then established a 2-0 lead in the second set. Djokovic broke back in the next game and after another break, served for the set at 5-4. Nadal responded by breaking back and taking the next two games to take the title.

Elsewhere, Russia’s Nikolay Davydenko won his third title of the year at the Warsaw Open. He beat Tommy Robredo of Spain 6-3, 6-3 in the final while Kateryna Bondarenko of the Ukraine claimed a maiden WTA title, defeating Belgium’s Yanina Wickmayer 7-6 (9-7), 3-6, 7-6 (7-4) in the DFS Classic in Birmingham.

Defending champions Punjab took a sweet revenge and stunned favourites Services by a solitary goal to lift the 62nd Santosh Trophy national football championship title at the Bakshi stadium here on Sunday. Punjab, who lost to Services in the quarterfinal league stages of the tournament, displayed an all-round performance and broke Services’ heart in the 54th minute of the match when substitute Balraj Singh converted a spot kick after a Services defender handled the ball inside the box. Down by a goal, Services, who qualified for the Santosh Trophy final after a hiatus of 39 years, went all out in search of the elusive equaliser but a determined Punjab defence came in their way on all occasions.

Punjab was undoubtedly the better side on display and their striking trio of Amandeep Singh, Balraj and Balwant Singh, now and then posed serious threats to Services goal. The title holders could have won the encounter by a bigger margin but Services skipper and custodian Robikanta Singh ensured that his team remains in the hunt till the end. Services too had several chances to level the scores but Punjab goalkeeper Karanjit Singh came in their way on every occasion. Services paid the price for relying heavily on their star striker Sochungmi Raleng who was no where near to his lethal best today as Punjab defenders gave him little opportunity to break free.

Turkey’s last minute goals get them a spot at the quarter final

Nihat Kahveci scored twice in a dramatic final four minutes to earn Turkey second spot in Group A and a quarter-final clash with Croatia after thrilling 3-2 defeat of Czech Rpeublic in Geneva.

The Czechs looked home and dry in the 61st minute when Jaroslav Plasil added to Jan Koller’s first-half opener to put his team 2-0 ahead.

But in an amazing end to the winner-takes-all match, Arda Turan halved the deficit in the 75th minute before Nihat came to the party.

The Turkey captain drew the sides level in the 86th minute when he took advantage of a ghastly error by Czech goalkeeper Petr Cech to poke home into an empty net.

And the Villarreal striker sparked delirium among the Turkish fans when he curled home an unstoppable winner with two minutes remaining.

There was still time for Turkey goalkeeper Volkan Demirel to receive his marching orders for an off-the-ball incident involving Koller, but his team held on to record their first win over the Czechs in 12 attempts.

The Croatian Group B winners now lie in wait for the Turks in Vienna on Friday.

Switzerland defeat Portugal 2-0 in an unimportant match. Nonetheless, well done Switzerland!

Hakan Yakin’s slick second-half double gave Switzerland coach Kobi Kuhn a victorious send-off as the co-hosts bowed out of Euro 2008 with three points and a 2-0 win from their final match against a much-changed Portugal side.

The Young Boys midfielder, who also netted his team’s only other goal of the tournament in Wednesday’s 2-1 defeat to Turkey, struck 19 minutes from time and then again from the penalty spot 11 minutes later to secure the triumph.

The Portuguese may count themselves a little unfortunate, having hit the woodwork through both Pepe and Nani, although Gokhan Inler was also denied by the frame of the goal for the Swiss.

With Portugal already guaranteed top spot in Group A and Switzerland knowing they could not climb off the bottom no matter what the result, there was on the face of it little to play for on Sunday.

But both teams played their part in an entertaining affair, with the crowd certainly enjoying themselves and creating a party atmosphere inside Basle’s St Jakob-Park with a Mexican wave in the early stages.

I missed out on reporting yesterdays’ matches due to some network issues. Sweden defeated Spain 2-1 while Russia got the better of Greece in a narrow 1-0 victory.

Shoaib Akhtar’s five-year ban has been reduced to 18 months by the PCB-appointed appellate tribunal, but he will have to pay a fine of Rs 7 million (approx US$105,000). The Pakistan board had, on April 1, banned him on various disciplinary grounds.”The tribunal has taken the decision [to reduce Shoaib's ban] with a clear conscience and under no pressure from either the board or anyone else,” Justice (retd) Aftab Farrukh, the head of the three-man tribunal, said in Karachi, adding that it was an unanimous decision.

Explaining the tribunal’s verdict, Farrukh said: “We also took into consideration the past record of Shoaib and that he had publicly apologised for his behaviour and past deeds. He has promised to reform himself and we have also recommended to the board that he should be given proper counselling.”Another member of the tribunal, Naveed Chaudhry, was pushing for the complete removal of the ban, with the provision of higher fine, but was overruled. “I wanted him [Shoaib] to play but pay a hefty fine of 20 million, but the other two members thought otherwise.” The third member, former Test cricketer Haseeb Ashan, did not attend the meeting, but gave his consent over telephone. Meanwhile, Shoaib’s lawyer, Abid Hasan Minto, said that he may pursue a further appeal against the reduced ban. “We will take a decision after going through the long and detailed order of the tribunal.”

Is it right for Shoaib Akhtar to have got his ban reduced? Do leave a comment and let us know what you think.

Leander Paes and Lukas Dlouhy made a remarkable comeback through the super-tie breaker of their semifinal match to enter the summit clash of the euro 713,000 Gerry Weber Open here.
After pocketing the first set, the fourth seed Indo-Czech pair lost the second set without getting on board but eventually pulled off a 6-4 0-6 10-4 win against Ivan Lubicic and Robin Soderling in one hour and 30 minutes. Paes-Dlouhy saved five breakpoints in the second set but failed to save another three to allow their opponents to push the result through the super tie-breaker. They held their nerves in the decider and win six points on their serve and four on the service returns to storm into the final match. They face winners of the other semifinal match between Mikhail Youzhny/Mischa Zverev and Christopher Kas/Phillip Petzschner.

Meanwhile,top-seeded Roger Federer handled German Nicolas Kiefer in Saturday’s semifinals to advance to Sunday’s final. The Swiss grass-court king taught Kiefer a lesson in the art of grass court tennis. It took Federer just 22 minutes to win the first set. Federer broke in the second and sixth games to win the opening set. In the second set, Federer saved four break points in the sixth game and then broke in the ninth game before serving it out. Federer goes into the final without losing serve this week, holding all 39 games and will face German Philipp Kohlschreiber in Sunday’s championship.

Catch Roger Federer Vs Nicolas Kiefer in the finals of the Gerry Webber tournament today on Neo Sports from 18.30 onwards