Champ Tipsarevic pulls out of Chennai
Chennai: The upcoming Chennai Open has been robbed off some of its sheen with defending champion Janko Tipsarevic withdrawing from the country’s premier tennis event owing to a foot injury. The Serb has been nursing the injury for quite some time now. The 29-year-old, ranked 36th in the world, is a regular competitor in the event, which starts on December 30. Tipsarevic had sustained the heel tendon injury at the Valencia Open. Following this, the Serb was also forced to withdraw from the Davis Cup final against the Czech Republic and he is still to recover fully from the two-month-old injury. (PTI)
Sammy belts Windies to win over Kiwis
Auckland: The West Indies tasted success for the first time on their New Zealand tour on Thursday when they scraped home by two wickets in the first one-day international. After rolling over New Zealand for a modest 156 in 42.1 overs, the West Indies made hard work of reaching their target for the loss of eight wickets in 27.3 overs. A rollicking unbeaten 43 from Darren Sammy in 27 balls took them over the line as wickets fell regularly at the other end. When just the last two wickets were left, Sammy knocked off the final 10 runs with a six and a four off Mitchell McClenaghan to be sure of the win. The victory, no matter how narrow, was a change of fortunes for a side comprehensively outplayed during their 0-2 Test series loss to New Zealand. Any confidence New Zealand took from the Tests quickly evaporated when they were sent into bat and faced new arrivals Ravi Rampaul, Dwayne Bravo and Jason Holder. Bravo returned figures of four for 44 while Rampaul and Holder took two wickets apiece. (AFP)
Hafeez, Ajmal guide Pak to series win
Abu Dhabi: Mohammad Hafeez notched his third hundred of the series while off-spinner Saeed Ajmal grabbed four wickets to help Pakistan beat Sri Lanka by eight wickets in the fourth one-day international on Wednesday. Hafeez finished with 113 not out for his ninth one-day hundred as Pakistan knocked off their modest 226-run target in the 42nd over to take an unbeatable 3-1 lead ahead of Friday’s fifth and final match. Pakistan had restricted Sri Lanka to 225 all out in 48.5 overs with Ajmal (4-39) and paceman Umar Gul (3-37) sharing the spoils. Hafeez, who hit hundreds in Pakistan’s two wins in the first and third matches in Sharjah, pushed Tillakaratne Dilshan for his 12th boundary to complete three figures, raising his bat and blowing a kiss to his wife in the stands. Hafeez became the sixth batsman in all one-day cricket to hit three tons in one bilateral series. Meanwhile, Shahid Afridi will skip the fifth ODI to return home to take care of his daughter, who is unwell, according to the Pakistan Cricket Board. However, sources have suggested that the real reason is that Afridi wants younger players to be given an opportunity as the series has already been decided. (AFP)
Lahiri takes day one honours in Kolkata
Kolkata: Anirban Lahiri of Bangalore fired a sizzling six-under 66 to take the round one lead at the PGTI’s year-ending McLeod Russel Tour Championship at the RCGC on Thursday. Gurgaon-based Jyoti Randhawa returned a five-under-67 to be on the leader’s tail in second place. In pursuit of his first-ever title at the RCGC, Lahiri made a perfect start to the tournament by registering eight birdies against two bogeys in round one. Lahiri was in red hot form as he made birdie putts from 15 to 25 feet on the third, eighth and 17th holes. The 26-year-old from the Eagleton Golf Resort, Bangalore, also hit it well by landing it within six feet for birdies on the ninth, 10th and 18th. A winner of three titles in 2013 (one on Asian Tour and two on PGTI), Lahiri capitalised on both par-5s, the fourth and 15th, after finding the green in two shots and setting up two-putt birdies. Lahiri’s two bogeys came as a result of his ball being plugged in the bunker on the seventh and his tee shot landing in the water hazard on the 16th. “I holed almost everything except for one short par putt on the 16th. The best shot of the day has to be the 25-foot downhill birdie putt on the 17th. That putt was not easy to execute. I struck it well and found most fairways. The conditions were tough in the morning as it was windy. I feel a lot more comfortable at RCGC now than I was few years back. (PTI)