Listless Ishant faces Indian fans’ ire
Leicester: A listless Ishant Sharma was heckled by Indian fans on the third day of the drawn warm-up game against Leicestershire when the gangling paceman struggled to contain his wayward bowling. Ishant, who is the only bowler in the current line-up with the experience of bowling in English conditions, began with a flurry of no balls and ended up leaking 64 runs in nine overs even as he got two wickets at the fag end of the contest. In his first spell of four overs he conceded 41 runs and sent down six no balls. According to a report, as Ishant walked towards his fielding position at long leg, Indian fans peppered him with verbal volleys. “Put some effort. Bend down,” one fan shouted. As he lined up to deliver another over, Ishant would not have missed the annoying scream coming from the crowd: “How many fours are you going to give this over?’ the report said. In India’s touring party, Ishant (55 Tests) is the second most capped player after skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who has played 83 matches in the longest format. (PTI)
Historic title win for Advani in Egypt
Sharm el-Sheikh (EGYPT): Indian cueist Pankaj Advani created history on Sunday by becoming the first player in the world to win world titles in the long and shorter formats of both billiards and snooker by pocketing the IBSF World 6-Red snooker Championship, here. Advani, India’s poster boy of cue sports, defeated Kacper Flilpiak of Poland in the final that lasted barely an hour to win his maiden 6-Red world title and ninth overall. Advani, who has won seven world titles in billiards and one in snooker, added a new kind of world title to his overflowing cabinet of trophies. He won both World snooker titles on debut – the IBSF World Snooker Championship, China and this one, the IBSF 6-Red World Snooker Championship in Egypt. This win takes Pankaj to highest tally of world titles by any Indian cueist in the Open (Men’s) category. (PTI)
Bhullar finishes 33rd in Germany
COLOGNE: India’s Gaganjeet Bhulllar finished tied 33rd after a modest two-under 70 in the fourth and final round of the BMW International Open golf tournament here. It was Bhullar’s best finish thus far in his maiden season on the European Tour. Bhullar, who had a three-under 69 with a bogey on closing 18th, did a creditable job with four sub-par rounds in what was a fairly low-scoring tournament. Bhullar had a bogey on the second, but birdies on the third, seventh and 13th saw him finish at 70 and 12-under. The other three Indians, Jeev Milkha Singh, Shiv Kapur and Anirban Lahiri had missed the cut. (PTI)
New Zealand edge ahead of West Indies
Bridgetown: Kane Wiliamson and Brendon McCullum lifted New Zealand to 123 for three, a lead of 99, at stumps on the third day of the third and final Test aagainst West Indies at Kensington Oval. Early strikes by the West Indies bowlers put the tourists under pressure in their second innings but an unbroken fourth-wicket partnership of 55 between Wiliamson and McCullum steadied the ship on Saturday. Both batsmen had their moments of good fortune but Williamson’s unbeaten 58 and the captain’s 23 not out have given their team a fighting chance going into the fourth day on Sunday of posting a competitive target in this series decider. Trailing by 24 runs after the West Indies were dismissed for 317 in their first innings, the Black Caps’ top order wobbled against the threat posed by two home-grown fast bowlers. Kemar Roach removed both opening batsmen to lift his career tally of Test wickets to 98. Tom Latham miscued an attempted pull to midwicket before he had scored and Hamish Rutherford’s poor run of form continued with an edge to wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin when on 19. Jason Holder, the debutant who went wicketless in the New Zealand first innings but contributed an important 38 runs in the West Indies reply, put the seal on a good day with the wicket of Ross Taylor with his first ball, the experienced middle-order batsman giving a straightforward catch to Darren Bravo at second slip. (AFP)