EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

THE HINDU DELHI SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2020 SPORT 19 EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE Smriti No. 4 in rankings Man City falls A flop show by India batsmen foul of UEFA All three designated openers come a cropper, Vihari and Pujara the saving grace FFP rules

Agence France-Presse INDIA IN NZ Nyon Press Trust of India Manchester City has been Hamilton banned from European Hanuma Vihari’s gutsy competitions for the next hundred and the seasoned two seasons for “serious fi­ Cheteshwar Pujara’s 92 were nancial fair­play breach­ the bright spots in an other­ es”, UEFA announced on wise dreadful batting perfor­ Friday. mance by India on the first The English champion, day of their warm­up game which was also fined €30 against New Zealand XI here. million, immediately an­ All the three designated Moving up: Smriti Mandhana rose three rungs in the latest nounced it was appealing openers — Mayank Agarwal ICC women’s T20I rankings for batters. * GETTY IMAGES the suspension to the (1), Prithvi Shaw (0) and Court of Arbitration for Shubman Gill (0) — failed the Press Trust of India ries during the tri­series, Sport (CAS) “at the earliest seam and bounce test, falling Dubai both made upward move­ opportunity”. cheaply. India star Smriti Mandhana ments, while Meg Lanning, “Manchester City is dis­ With skipper Virat Kohli on Friday rose three rungs despite dropping three posi­ appointed but not sur­ opting for an intense net ses­ to fourth but Jemimah Ro­ tion, hung on to the top five. prised by today’s announ­ sion over the warm­up game, drigues dropped to seventh Among the bowlers, El­ cement by the UEFA India managed only 263 with in the latest ICC women’s lyse Perry’s golden run with Adjudicatory Chamber,” none apart from Vihari (101 T20 International rankings the ball gave her a jump of the club said. retd. out)) and Pujara able to for batters. four places into the top 10, Announcing the ban a score even 20 runs on a Sed­ Harmanpreet Kaur has to No.7. UEFA statement declared: don Park track that had liber­ remained static at ninth in England fast bowler Anya “The Adjudicatory Cham­ al grass covering. the same list. Shrubsole tumbled six plac­ ber has imposed disciplin­ Among the bowlers, Poo­ es to fall out of the top 20. ary measures on Manches­ Worrying factor nam Yadav dropped six Anuja Patil and Delissa Kim­ ter City Football Club What would worry the In­ places to fall out of the top mince lost out big as well, directing that it shall be ex­ dian team management was 10 and take the 12th falling 11 places to 31, and 14 cluded from participation failure of all the three open­ position. places to 33 respectively. in UEFA club competitions ers. Shaw and Gill were un­ Although Suzie Bates, Among all­rounders, De­ in the next two seasons (ie. done by the extra bounce New Zealand’s No. 3, re­ vine claimed the top spot af­ the 2020/21 and 2021/22 while Mayank failed to coun­ tained her top spot, there ter gaining one position, seasons).” European foot­ ter to seam movement. Quite at ease: Hanuma Vihari was equal to the challenge of countering the seaming conditions and notched up the lone century were other movements in while Nat Sciver also ball’s governing body said Ajinkya Rahane (18) was of the innings. * FILE PHOTO the top 10, with Bates’ team­ jumped one place to round that City “failed to cooper­ out by the end of the first mate and captain Sophie out the top three. ate in the investigation”. third session. When the spin­ was another shot selection c Cleaver b Gibson 92, Shubman Total (in 78.5 overs): 263. hour, edging one to the slips, Devine rising four spots to Hayley Matthews City lost a previous ap­ ners were introduced, Puja­ by Rishabh Pant when he Gill c Seifert b Kuggeleijn 0, Fall of wickets: 1­0, 2­5, 3­5, 4­ before Vihari and Pujara no.2, the ICC said in a dropped down a position to peal to CAS over UEFA’s ra pulled Ish Sodhi over long­ tried an ugly hoick off Sod­ Ajinkya Rahane c Bruce b 38, 5­233, 6­245, 7­246, 8­246, stemmed the rot and got a statement. four, while South Africa cap­ original decision to refer it leg for a six while Vihari also hi’s bowling only to be Neesham 18, Hanuma Vihari 9­250. 195­run stand. Australia opener Beth tain Dane van Niekerk com­ to its adjudicatory cham­ hit three down the ground caught by the man at (retd. out) 101, Rishabh Pant c New Zealand XI bowling: Scott Mooney and Mandhana, pleted the top five after gain­ ber over the alleged FFP off left­arm spinner extra­cover. Kuggeleijn b Sodhi 7, Wriddhi­ Kuggeleijn 14­2­40­3, Blair Seeing off Kuggeleijn who made two half centu­ ing one position. violations. Ravindra. The scores: man Saha c Cleaver b Gibson 0, Tickner 15­3­37­0, Daryl Mitch­ Once they saw off Kugge­ India — 1st innings: Prithvi R. Ashwin lbw b Sodhi 0, ell 7­1­15­0, Jimmy Neesham leijn’s first spell and the skid­ India lost the last six wick­ Shaw c Ravindra b Kuggeleijn 0, Umesh Yadav (not out) 9, Ra­ 13­3­28­1, Jake Gibson 10­1­ dy Blair Tickner, batting be­ ets for 30 runs but what Mayank Agarwal c Cleaver b vindra Jadeja c Allen b Sodhi 8; 26­2, Ish Sodhi 14.5­0­72­3, Ra­ came easy in the second and stuck out like a sore thumb Kuggeleijn 1, Cheteshwar Pujara Extras (b­8, lb­7, nb­9, w­3): 27; chin Ravindra 5­1­30­0. Warner expects hostile reception Sangakkara Opener and Smith to tour S. Africa after ‘Sandpapergate’ Ready to open if needed, says Vihari Agence France-Presse returns to Sydney ‘Knew we had to bat long and that’s exactly what we did’ Australia opener David War­ Pakistan ner is braced for a hostile re­ Press Trust of India ception but hopes fans will Hamilton attack scene show “respect” as he and Hanuma Vihari, on Friday, Steve Smith return to South said he won’t mind taking up Agence France-Presse Africa for the first time since the opener’s role if the team Lahore the ‘Sandpapergate’ ball­ management asks after In­ Sri Lankan Kumar Sangak­ tampering scandal that dia’s inexperienced opening kara will relive his fateful rocked world cricket. options were technically ex­ 2009 journey to Lahore’s The last time the pair posed by a second­string Gaddafi Stadium on Friday played in South Africa, al­ New Zealand attack on the after returning for the first most two years ago, it was opening day of the warm­up time since the deadly at­ sent home in disgrace for at­ game here. tack which plunged Pakis­ tempting to alter the ball Will they be booed? David Warner and Steve Smith will hope

The trio’s performance tan into cricket isolation. with sandpaper during a the South African fans show some respect. * FILE PHOTO raised doubts about its abili­ Sangakkara is captain­ Cape Town Test. It cost the ty to face the likes of Neil ing England’s MCC for four two 12­month suspensions pected to receive similar viously, it's going to be very Wagner, Trent Boult and games in Lahore, where he and for Warner, a lifetime treatment in South Africa. hostile”. Matt Henry. was wounded in a militant leadership ban. The batsmen are both in Australia will be using the attack on the Sri Lankan the Australian squad for tour to fine­tune prepara­ Not informed team. Sangakkara, 42, suf­ Forgiven at home three T20Is and three ODIs tions for the T20 World Cup “As a player, I am prepared fered shrapnel wounds to They have since resurrected beginning February 21. The on home soil in October — to bat anywhere. As of now, In good nick: Pujara was the only other India batsman to come good, apart from Vihari. his shoulder and narrowly their careers and are all but T20 on February 26 will the only major cricket tro­

I’ve not been informed * FILE PHOTO: K.R. DEEPAK escaped a bullet which forgiven at home, with War­ mark the visitors’ first match phy the men’s team has not anything. As I said before as whistled past his head as ner this week winning a vote at Newlands since the 2018 won. well, if the team requires me Africa at Visakhapatnam last Vihari was surprised by played against New Zea­ the Sri Lankan players lay by players, officials and me­ scandal. Equally dangerous bat­ to bat wherever, I am ready year in October? the extra bounce on offer on land­A, the pitch didn’t do as pinned down on the floor dia to claim Australian crick­ “For me personally, it sman and wrist­spinner to bat,” said Vihari, who re­ “Sometimes you have to Friday but is happy to have much as what it did in the of the team bus. et's highest honour, the Al­ won't be hard at all,” Warner D'Arcy Short, who has been tired after scoring 101. understand the team combi­ countered the challenge in morning today. But Sangakkara, who is lan Border Medal — with told Sydney radio station overlooked for a year, has re­ The Andhra player has de­ nation as well. You can’t get the warm­up game which “Once we adjusted, me also the president of the Smith placed second. 2GB this week. “I just go placed him in both formats. livered whenever given a disheartened by it. I under­ provided him with an oppor­ and Puji (Pujara), we got our Marylebone Cricket Club But both players were there and I've got a job to do “If you look at our squad chance. Does he feel bad stood when you are playing tunity to prepare well. eye in, then we knew we had (MCC), said Pakistan was constantly booed and jeered and that's to score runs and selections over the last cou­ about not getting to play four at home, we play five bow­ “Initially, I thought the ex­ to bat long and that’s exactly slowly restoring its reputa­ during last year's one­day win games for Australia and ple of months, it's all been successive Tests after the se­ lers. It’s obvious that one tra bounce surprised us. (In) what we did,” Vihari said af­ tion as a safe destination World Cup and Ashes series put us in a good position.” pretty consistent,” said skip­ ries­opener against South batter has to miss out.” the couple of matches I ter the end of day’s play. for visiting teams. in England, and they are ex­ But he added that “ob­ per Aaron Finch. Indian men edge out Thailand Paes and Ebden combo scrapes through to title round CHALLENGER to wrap it up 7­6(4). Enter semifinals of Asia Team Championships Neither player gave an Ashwin Achal inch, and it went down to the Bengaluru wire. Ocleppo, the World No. Leander Paes and Matthew 231, will take on gritty Aus­ Ebden kept their run going tralian James Duckworth in with a scrappy 6­4, 3­6, [10­7] the semifinal on Saturday. win over Jonathan Erlich and Fourth­seed Duckworth, Andrei Vasilevski in the dou­ in great form in recent bles semifinals of the months, knocked out ninth­ $1,62,000 Bengaluru Open seed Thomas Fabbiano (Ita) ATP Tennis Challenger here 6­7(5), 6­0, 6­2 in another on Friday. last­eight match. Paes and Ebden were not at their best, but managed to Unseeded Frenchman keep cool in the match tie­ Benjamin Bonzi upset third­ Equaliser: Lakshya Sen’s straight­game win over Suppanyu Avihingsanon brought India back breaker to sneak through. It seed Yuichi Sugita of Japan 6­ on level terms. * FILE PHOTO: RITU RAJ KONWAR was Ebden who kicked into 7(5), 7­5, 6­4, while Stefano top gear first in the tiebreak­ Travaglia took out fluent Slo­ BADMINTON effort ended in a 21­14, 14­21, It then all boiled down to er, making a reflex volley to venian southpaw Blaz Rola 21­12 loss to world No. 12 the makeshift pair of Chirag get the pair level at 2­2. Paes 6­4, 4­6, 6­2. Press Trust of India Kantaphon Wangcharoen. Shetty and Srikanth and the then made a brilliant The results: Singles (quarterfi­ Manila In the second singles, Sri­ Indian duo dished out a sup­ chipped backhand service­ nals): Julian Ocleppo (Ita) bt The Indian men’s team as­ kanth went down 22­20, 21­ erb game to outwit the pair­ return winner to get a 6­5 Ilya Ivashka (Blr) 7­6(4), 6­7(3), sured itself of a medal after 14 to Kunlavut Vitidsarn. ing of Maneepong Jongjit lead. A couple of awkward 6­4; James Duckworth (Aus) bt Thomas Fabbiano (Ita) 6­7(5), progressing to the semifinals and Nipitphon Phuangphua­ kick serves from Paes closed 6­0, 6­2; Stefano Travaglia (Ita) with a thrilling 3­2 win over In the hunt pet 21­15, 16­21, 21­15 in the the show in grand style. bt Blaz Rola (Slo) 6­4, 4­6, 6­2; Thailand at the Badminton The pairing of M.R. Arjun deciding second doubles tie. Paes­Ebden will face the Benjamin Bonzi (Fra) bt Yuichi Asia Team Championships and Dhruv Kapila kept India “It is an incredible result Indian pair of Purav Raja and Sugita (Jpn) 6­7(5), 7­5, 6­4. here on Friday. in the hunt with a 21­18, 22­ for us considering the fact Ramkumar Ramanathan in Doubles (semifinals): Matthew After K. Srikanth and B. 20 win over Kittinupong Ke­ that we didn’t have Satwik­ the final. Raja­Ramanathan Ebden (Aus) / Leander Paes Sai Praneeth faced reversals dren and Tanupat Viriyang­ sairaj (Rankireddy) and we reached the summit clash af­ (Ind) bt Jonathan Erlich (Isr) / in the first two singles ties, kura in the first doubles. generally depend on the sin­ ter Saketh Myneni and Matt Andrei Vasilevski (Blr) 6­4, 3­6, India fought back to win the Lakshya Sen, who had a gles to get us the win. But af­ Reid were forced to retire Perfect tango: Leander Paes and Matthew Ebden upped their game in the tie­breaker to sneak 10­7. next three tiesto set up a last stellar run in 2019 with five ter we lost the first two sin­ due to an injury to Reid. through to the final. * V. SREENIVASA MURTHY Line­up: Singles semifinals (2 four meeting with two­time titles, then registered a 21­19, gles, the way we got that In the opening game of p.m. onwards): Ocleppo vs defending champion 21­18 win over world No. 45 doubles win and then Laksh­ the second set, Reid sprinted in an attempt to continue nals, Italian Julian Ocleppo which lasted 2 hours and 40 Duckworth; Bonzi vs Travaglia. Indonesia. Suppanyu Avihingsanon to ya brought us back to level, back to retrieve a lob and playing, but was unable to edged out 13th seed Ilya minutes. Ocleppo was down Doubles final (6.30 p.m. on­ Sai Praneeth started the bring India back on level it was a complete team ef­ landed on his knee. The Aus­ sufficiently recover. Ivashka of Belarus 7­6(4), 6­7 2­5 in the first set, before wards): Paes / Ebden vs Raja / proceedings, but his gallant terms. fort,” Chirag told PTI. tralian sought medical help In the singles quarterfi­ (3), 6­4 in a gruelling outing making a terrific comeback Ramanathan. CM M ND-NDE YK