Indians finish 5th in U-19 World Cup
Sharjah: India finished fifth in the Under-19 World Cup after a strong batting effort saw them overcome the West Indies by 46 runs in a high-scoring classification match here on Thursday. In the fifth/sixth position play-off match, India overcame Tagenarine Chanderpaul’s century to emerge victorious at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. Opting to bat first, India’s Ankush Bains (74), Sanju Samson (67) and Shreyas Iyer (66) batted well to help India post 340/8 in 50 overs, the highest team total of the tournament. For the West Indies, Gudakesh Motie picked up three for 52 and Preston McSween bagged two for 74. Chanderpaul then scored 112 from 136 balls with eight fours and a six as the West Indies, chasing India’s mammoth total, finished at 294 for eight. (PTI)
Arvind enters quarters of German Open
Mulheim an der Ruhr (Germany): Arvind Bhat continued his impressive run to enter the men’s singles quarterfinals of the German Open Grand Prix Gold after posting a straight-game victory over Daren Liew of Malaysia here on Thursday. However, it was curtains for Anand Pawar in another men’s singles third round match as the World No. 34 Indian went down to Tien Chen Chou of Taiwan 14-21, 11-21 in just half an hour. Former national champion Bhat, ranked 82nd, who stunned World No. 10 Yun Hu on Wednesday, had an easy outing on Thursday. He got the better of Liew 21-14, 21-12 in a contest that lasted 39 minutes. In the quarters, Bhat will take on the winner of the third round match between Kento Momota and Viktor Axelsen. In a women’s singles second round match, India’s Arundhati Pantawane lost to seventh seeded Eriko Hirose of Japan 18-21, 16-21 in 42 minutes. Later on Thursday, HS Prannoy, who caused an upset win over compatriot Parupalli Kashyap the day before, lost to Wan Ho Son of Korea 14-21, 15-21 in 42 minutes. (PTI)
Rashid leads by four strokes in Delhi
New Delhi: A double bogey threatened to spoil his card, but Rashid Khan made a superb recovery as he scored a three-under 69 to lead the field by four strokes at the halfway stage of the SAIL-SBI Open at the Delhi Golf Course here on Thursday. The 23-year-old Indian, who launched his full Asian tour season with a sizzling career-best 11-under 61, found the going tough after starting from back nine as he treaded three birdies and an eagle with a double bogey in the second round to aggregate 14-under 130. Bangladesh’s Siddikur Rahman, Australia’s Unho Park and Sri Lanka’s Mithun Perera shared the second spot with a two-day total of 10-under 134. (PTI)
Kiwi Vincent admits bookie’s approach
Wellington: Former New Zealand international Lou Vincent confirmed on Thursday that he failed to tell authorities when a bookmaker approached him about fixing a match in Bangladesh, but said that was the extent of any wrongdoing. Vincent said he had pleaded guilty to breaching the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) anti-corruption code by not reporting the approach while playing in the scandal-tainted Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) last year. A special tribunal in Bangladesh said on Wednesday that it expected to hand down punishments for Vincent and three other people implicated in the BPL scandal within two weeks. (AFP)
Windies, England in search of revival
North Sound (Antigua and Barbuda): Two teams in dire need of rehabilitation ahead of the next global cricketing contest start what should be an intriguing fortnight of competition on Friday when the West Indies host England in Antigua. While the next World Cup in Australia and New Zealand is still just under a year away, the Caribbean side’s defence of the World T20 crown begins in three weeks’ time in Bangladesh. So it will be no surprise if there is even greater interest and purpose attached to the three T20 fixtures between Dwayne Bravo’s men and Stuart Broad’s side in Barbados the week following the final ODI. Both squads are without key performers going into the opening exchanges at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, named in honour of the tiny nation’s greatest cricketer. (AFP)