TOP 100 SPORT SITES
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| LeBron scores 48, Varejao hits winning 3 for Cavs CLEVELAND (AP) -- Anderson Varejao made his first career 3-pointer with 17.2 seconds left - a 25th birthday present to teammate LeBron James - to give Cleveland a 106-101 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday night, the Cavaliers' 11th victory in 12 games.... hosted.ap.org |
Ponting delighted by Australia's fightback • Australia bowl out tourists for 139 to secure series victory• Hauritz takes five wickets as Pakistan collapseCaptain Ricky Ponting has rated Australia's 36-run win over Pakistan in the second Test among the most satisfying of his career. The hosts dismissed Pakistan for 139 on a dramatic fourth day to cap an incredible win which few thought possible when the hosts posted just 127 runs in their first innings.While Australia have made a habit of snatching dramatic victories at the Sydney Cricket Ground in recent years – having toppled India and South Africa late on the final day in the previous two Sydney Tests – Ponting claimed the most recent triumph was even more rewarding."I don't think anyone else in the world other than probably all the blokes inside our room thought we could win," said the Australia captain. "In the other SCG Tests we've probably been in positions where we should have won the games. So this one, turning up today 80 runs ahead, I think all of us felt that if we could get 150 we were going to be right in the game. Where it ended up today was a sort of a difficult number I think for Pakistan to look at and try to chase."Pakistan needed 176 for victory, and Ponting said: "Those sort of totals are always hard to chase but what Huss and Sids [Michael Hussey and Peter Siddle, who put on 123 for the ninth wicket] did today and what the bowlers did and probably more importantly today what the fielders did ... those little things like that can be the difference between winning and losing the game."Ponting conceded the furore surrounding his decision to bat first on a green SCG wicket on the opening day had taken a toll on the entire team.Although he could see the lighter side of his contentious decision after pulling off the unlikely triumph, the home captain stood by his brave call before admitting he is unlikely to ever choose to bowl first in a Test match again."It's been a pretty tough few days not only for me but the team," Ponting said. "We felt that we probably underperformed a little bit on the first day and as a captain and a top-order batter the last thing I want to do is bat on a wicket that I don't think we can make any runs on."So I backed us at the start of the game to make more in the first innings of the game than what I thought Pakistan could make in the last innings of the game. As it turns out we got 120-odd and then bowled them out for 139 in the last innings of the game. It just goes to show I guess how hard chasing runs in Test cricket is."What we've read over the last couple of days and what we've seen and heard on the news probably just steeled us all a little bit and just made us want to fight the game out as much as we can and prove that we're never out of the contest."Shell-shocked Pakistan captain Mohammad Yousuf accepted the blame for his side's disappointing second innings before conceding his side's lack of Test experience was a major factor."I think they batted very well in the second innings and my shot this afternoon was very pathetic and it turned the game," he said, referring to an aggressive drive he returned caught and bowled to Nathan Hauritz just after tea."I think otherwise we win the game, not easily but we [would] have won. We have to be professional, we have to perform ... we need to take the pressure, especially me I'm a very experienced player, while they're all young."The three-match series will now shift to Hobart on 14 January with Australia holding an unassailable 2-0 advantage.CricketAustralia Cricket TeamPakistan cricket teamguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
SAfrica Olympic committee: Semenya can't run yet JOHANNESBURG (AP) -- The South African Olympic Committee says 800-meter world champion Caster Semenya cannot compete at home or abroad until the IAAF rules on her gender tests.... hosted.ap.org |
David Sullivan and David Gold expose West Ham United's ÂŁ100m debt David Sullivan and David Gold laid bare the extent of West Ham United's crippling debts after completing a takeover they have described as "the realisation of a dream". feeds.timesonline.co.uk |
Juan MartĂn del Potro defeat offers Andy Murray glimpse of glory • US Open champion loses 5-7, 6-4, 7-5, 5-7, 6-3• Marin Cilic will now play Andy RoddickIt is hard to think of anything more dangerous than looking past Rafael Nadal when the Spaniard is your next opponent and, as he prepares for his showdown with the defending champion here on Tuesday, Andy Murray is experienced enough to know that. But should he find a way past Nadal then the path to the final was theoretically eased today after a surprise defeat for Juan MartĂn del Potro.The US Open champion was edged out 5-7, 6-4, 7-5, 5-7, 6-3 by the Croatian 14th seed Marin Cilic, who will now play Andy Roddick, himself a gutsy 6-3, 3-6, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 winner over the Chilean Fernando González in the night match. On paper a semi-final against Cilic or Roddick is a more attractive proposition than taking on Del Potro, though Murray will be well aware of the dangers they pose, having lost to Roddick in the semi-finals at Wimbledon last summer and then to Cilic in the fourth round of the US Open last September.Del Potro had survived an epic five-set match with James Blake in the second round on his way to the last 16, but today he simply ran out of steam. It was not without a fight but in the end Cilic proved too strong. "We played a hard match, five sets again," Del Potro said. "Marin is playing great tennis. I think he did better than me and he won."Nagging pain in his right wrist had almost stopped Del Potro from competing here and the Argentinian said he would go home to recover for the tournaments ahead. As for Cilic, he has now made consecutive grand slam quarter-finals, his movement has improved enormously in the past 12 months and as Murray can testify, he is a dangerous shot-maker.At the rate she is going, former world No1 Justine Henin will surely be back near the top of the women's rankings before too long. In only her second tournament after returning from retirement, the Belgian fended off compatriot Yanina Wickmayer 7-6, 1-6, 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals.Next up is the Russian Nadia Petrova, who followed up her shock win over Kim Clijsters by beating another Russian, the third seed Svetlana Kuznetsova. Clijsters won the US Open last September in just her third tournament back after two years off but Henin said it was too soon to say if she could complete what would be an incredible Belgian double. "Of course, I have dreams," she said. "I'll try to go as far as possible and if it's until the end, it would be amazing, but it's still too early to talk about that."The second seed Dinara Safina withdrew during the first set of her match with the Russian Maria Kirilenko because of a back injury. Kirilenko will play Jie Zheng of China for a semi-final spot.Australian OpenJuan MartĂn del PotroAndy RoddickJustine HeninTennisSimon Cambersguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |