Gambhir fined for showing dissent
Hyderabad: Kolkata Knight Riders captain Gautam Gambhir was fined 15 percent of his match fee on Monday for showing dissent at an umpire’s decision in his side’s IPL match against Sunrisers Hyderabad here. “In the Pepsi IPL match in Hyderabad last evening, Gautam Gambhir of Kolkata Knight Riders was fined 15 per cent of his match fee for showing dissent at the umpire’s decision,” the IPL said in a statement. Gambhir admitted to the Level 1 offence and accepted the sanction, the statement went on to say. KKR won the match by seven wickets on Sunday. (PTI)
Eng want more Hales heroics vs Lanka
London: England will hope history repeats itself when they begin their international programme against Sri Lanka with a lone Twenty20 international at The Oval on Tuesday. One of the few highlights for England during a recent tour programme that saw them surrender the Ashes 5-0 came in March when Alex Hales’ stunning 116 not out off just 64 balls saw them beat eventual champions Sri Lanka at the World Twenty20 in Bangladesh. England eventually bowed out of that tournament with a humiliating 45-run loss to the Netherlands while even Hales’s astonishing innings – the first century in a Twenty20 international by an England batsman – has threatened to become something of a millstone around the 25-year-old’s neck. Tradition still holds sway in England, the longer the game the more respect it is accorded. That’s why many England fans regard Tuesday’s match and the five one-day internationals that follow as a ‘warm-up’ for the more ‘serious’ business of the two Test series with Sri Lanka. Hales, who has found himself on loan at Worcestershire from Nottinghamshire this season after averaging just 13.94 in County Championship cricket last term, would love to prove he’s more than just a Twenty20 specialist. “I feel as though I’ve got the rest of the package too,” the powerful right-hander said Sunday. “I feel if they gave me the chance in 50 overs this summer I would be ready for it. I’ve seen a lot of Sri Lanka and I feel I would be ready for the chance if it came along.” (AFP)
SL’s Hathurusingha named B’desh coach
DHAKA: Former Sri Lanka batsman Chandika Hathurusingha will take over as Bangladesh coach on a two-year contract, local cricket board chief Nazmul Hassan said on Monday. This will be Hathurusingha’s first stint in charge of an international side, replacing Australian Shane Jurgensen, who stepped down last month following the team’s string of poor performances. “He will take up the new role next month,” Hassan told Reuters, adding the board was also looking for bowling and fielding coaches. Hathurusingha, who played 26 tests and 35 one-day internationals in the 1990s, has been working as the assistant coach with New South Wales. (Reuters)
Scott topples Tiger Woods as world No. 1
London: Adam Scott officially replaced Tiger Woods as the world number one golfer on Monday, ending the American’s 60 week reign at the top of the rankings. Scott, 33, is the first Australian to be world number one since his boyhood hero Greg Norman, who spent 331 weeks in the position in the 1980s and ’90s. The 2013 Masters champion was inactive last week, but was already assured of taking top spot with Woods sidelined with a long-standing back problem. Woods returned to the top of the world rankings in March, 2013, taking over from Rory McIlory and he has been there ever since. The American has spent a total of 683 weeks as the world’s best during the course of his career. (AFP)
