Ton-up Clarke rescues Australia

NEW DELHI, (AFP) - Michael Clarke hit a gritty century to steer Australia to safety on the fourth day of the third Test against a sloppy India here on Saturday.

Clarke, 27, led Australia’s commendable fightback with a 112-run knock that spanned six hours and took the tourists to a first innings score of 577 all out, just 36 adrift of India’s 613-7 declared.

The visitors then reduced India to 43-2 with Brett Lee accounting for Virender Sehwag (12) and Stuart Clark dismissing nightwatchman Ishant Sharma for one.

India’s first-innings double-centurion Gautam Gambhir was batting on 21 with Rahul Dravid on five at close. With the wicket not showing much signs of deterioration, a draw looks the likely result.

India leads the four-match Test series 1-0 after winning the second Test in Mohali by 320 runs. The opener in Bangalore ended in a draw.
The platform for Australia’s fightback was laid by their top-order batsmen, who made handy contributions before Clarke came to the party with his eighth Test century.

The Aussie vice-captain shared a 73-run stand with Shane Watson (36) and added 103 for the seventh wicket with Cameron White (44) while surviving three dropped chances by the butter-fingered Indians.

He was dropped on 21, 90 and 94, underlining India’s indifferent effort in the field and probably dashing their hopes of forcing a series-clinching win here.

“It (dropped catches) certainly helped me,” Clarke said after the day’s play. I had a bit of luck. The wicket played quite well and personally, it was very rewarding to make another century in India. But a lot of credit goes to guys like Hayden, Ponting, Katich and Hussey who set the game up for us.

“We will now try and take a few quick wickets tomorrow and try and win the game.”
The only bright spot for the hosts was the maiden five-wicket haul by part-time off-spinner Sehwag, who finished with fine figures of 5-104.

Scores: India 613-7 decl and 43-2 (13) at close (G Gambhir 21 n.o.).
Australia 338-4 contd 577 (179.3) (M Clarke 112, S Watson 36, C White 44, Extras 57, A Kumble 3/112, A Mishra 2/144, V Sehwag 5/104)

****

NZ shatters Australia in historic rugby Test

HONG KONG, (AFP) - New Zealand pulled off a rousing second-half fightback as they came from behind to shatter Australia 19-14 in the historic first Bledisloe Cup match on neutral soil here on Saturday.
The world’s top team, who had already retained the trophy by taking a 2-1 series lead last month, trailed 9-14 at the break after Drew Mitchell’s double but hit back with classy tries from Sitiveni Sivivatu and captain Richie McCaw.

New Zealand, who also clawed back a 10-point deficit in the last match in Brisbane, can now chase a five-nation Grand Slam as they head off for their European tour.
“There’s nothing between the two teams,” said McCaw. “Every inch you’ve got to fight hard for. Today was just the same as it’s always been.”

Australia stunned New Zealand with the first attack of the game after flyhalf Stephen Donald’s slip put the All Blacks’ defence under pressure and debutant Hosea Gear turned it over on the left flank.
Wallabies pivot Matt Guiteau popped up a pass in the tackle to winger Mitchell, deputising for the injured Lote Tuqiri, who barrelled through two defenders and touched down by the posts with just five minutes gone.

Kiwi superstar Dan Carter, making a rare start at inside centre, pulled back two penalties but the New Zealand defence again looked shaky under pressure as Mitchell got his second with a simple touchdown on the left on 26 minutes.
Carter knocked one over from the halfway line to make it 14-9 as the All Blacks headed into the break without once testing the Australian line.

But they immediately hit back in the second half as the ball went along the line to winger Sivivatu for a straightforward score on the left. With Carter missing the conversion, the scores were level at 14-14.

Coach Graham Henry replaced Donald with Na’a Nonu and returned Carter to his favoured flyhalf, and the All Blacks again attacked with intent as Nonu kicked through only for Gear to knock the ball forward as he slid into the post.
New Zealand were suddenly flowing and Sivivatu found McCaw on the right with a looping cut-out pass as they took the lead for the first time 19-14 with 17 minutes left.

As the clock ticked down, Guiteau missed a penalty kick from distance and Australia’s attacks became increasingly desperate.
Cory Jane became the second new All Blacks cap of the day when he came on late to help the team to the final hooter and a 3-1 Bledisloe Cup victory.

Australia won the opening Cup Test in Sydney before New Zealand made sure of retaining the trophy with victories in Auckland and Brisbane.
The two teams have only played once before outside their two countries, in the 1991 World Cup semi-finals in Dublin, but are now discussing fixtures in Denver and Tokyo to bring in extra revenue and boost rugby’s profile.

****

Fabulous Fijians floor French at World Cup

WOLLONGONG, (AFP) - Fiji spectacularly ended France’s rugby league World Cup with a blistering 42-6 Pool Two victory here Saturday to virtually ensure themselves a crack at the semi-finals.
The “Bati”, comprising an exciting backline of pacy National Rugby League stars, blew away the French with their athleticism and sheer power for a comprehensive seven-tries-to-one victory in a crowd-pleasing spectacle.
Newcastle Knights winger Akuila Uate equalled a Fijian record of tries in a World Cup game with three as the Fijians all but ensured a place in the November 10 semi-final play-off.

Fiji will clinch their play-off spot with victory against Scotland in Gosford on Wednesday.
Uate, who scored arguably the try of the tournament with a 90-metre individual effort, equalled the previous record of Atunasia Vunivialu in the 2000 tournament against Russia in England.

Parramatta fullback Jarryd Hayne was another outstanding performer for the Fijians, scoring two tries, including one 60m effort when he beat off four tackles to nonchalantly dot down.

Fijian skipper and Newcastle Knights centre Wes Naiqama finished with seven goals from 10 attempts.
France, who opened the tournament with a 36-18 win over the Scots in Canberra last weekend, were overpowered by the enthusiastic Pacific islanders, rarely breaking the line and committing 48 missed tackles.

Fiji led 18-6 at halftime and continued to pull away with a further four tries in the second half.
It was Fiji’s third win at the Cup following their previous victories over South Africa (52-6) in 1995 and Russia (38-12) in 2000. At both previous tournaments Fiji have been grouped with Australia and England.
France, who lost hooker James Wynne early in the first half with an elbow injury, have only one match left in the tournament, a play-off with a yet-to-be-decided Pool Three team next weekend.
The French however cannot progress to the semis.

****

National rugby selectors resign

The national rugby selection committee comprising Rohan Abayakoon (chairman), Nazeem Mohamed, Hafeez Marso and Chaminda Rupasinghe tended their resignation to the Minister of Sport yesterday over the selection of the captain and team for the five-nation Asian tournament in Taiwan this month.

****

Lewke clarifies

In response to the news item appearing in these columns last Sunday titled ‘Lewke sounds Sports Minister’ SLRFU president Nimal Lewke writes to state that he has not made any such request to the Sports Minister to appoint his son as captain.

****

Nadal and Federer out with injuries

Top seed Rafael Nadal and second seed Roger Federer pulled out of the Paris Masters with injuries.
Federer had been due to face James Blake in the quarter-finals but withdrew because of a back injury.
And Nadal pulled out with a knee injury when trailing Nikolay Davydenko 6-1, having earlier required treatment.
In the remaining quarter-finals, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga beat Andy Roddick 5-7 6-4 7-6 (7-5), and David Nalbandian saw off Andy Murray 7-6 (7-3) 6-3.

Nadal had the trainer massaging his right thigh at the change of ends when trailing Davydenko 4-1 in the opening set, and called it quits two games later.
“I had some pain in the knee yesterday,” said the Spaniard. “I felt the pain a lot when I woke up this morning.
“When I push (on my right knee) I feel a sharp pain.”
And Nadal admitted he is worried about whether he will be fit for the season-ending Masters Cup in Shanghai, which begins on 9 November.

“For sure,” he said. “Hopefully it will be fine.... I don’t know.”
Federer has withdrawn during a tournament for the first time in his career.
“My back has been stiff for the last couple of days and I woke up this morning and it did not respond to the treatment I had last night,” he told his website.

“As a precaution and because I would be unable to play at 100% tonight, I have unfortunately had to take the difficult decision not to play.”
He added: “This is the first time ever I’ve pulled out during a tournament, so it feels bad. I don’t like to do it (and) feel bad for the tournament and for the fans.”

Federer said he hopes the injury will only take a few days to heal and that he will be able to play in the Masters Cup.
“Usually the back is something that takes a few days and it’s better again,” said the Swiss.
“I’m confident and I’m positive that hopefully it’s going to get better in the next few days.”
Blake now advances to the last four where he will face Tsonga, while Davydenko will play Nalbandian. –[BBC]

****

Massa gains upper hand in Brazilian Grand Prix

Felipe Massa gained the upper hand on rival Lewis Hamilton after practice for the Brazilian Grand Prix, where both aim to win the 2008 world championship.
There was little to separate the duo in the first session as Massa topped the timesheets by just 0.190 seconds.

But in a damp second practice Hamilton trailed in ninth, well behind Massa who was second to Fernando Alonso.
McLaren’s Hamilton has a seven-point lead over Ferrari’s Massa ahead of Sunday’s title decider at Interlagos.
“Our car was blindingly quick this morning despite the cold weather, which made the track feel quite slippery,” said the Englishman.

“The car felt good. I’m pretty comfortable that we have a good package.
“This afternoon, we focused on our race pace - but we were interrupted by the threat of rain and the changeable wind direction.
“I’m positive that the changes we’ve made will put us in a good position for tomorrow.”

After failing to match the McLarens for pace in the last race in China, Massa felt optimistic following the early run-out in Brazil.
“For sure we are more competitive, and when you are more competitive there is more motivation,” he said. “It was a good start.”
Massa added: “My aim is to be in front of everyone, both tomorrow and on Sunday. Then we can do the math when it’s over.”
Hamilton held the same seven-point advantage over Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen going into last season’s finale in Brazil only to see the title slip through his fingers.

His race came unstuck when he lost ground by running wide on the first lap before falling to the back of the field because of a gearbox problem.

Though Hamilton recovered to seventh, Raikkonen took the chequered flag to snatch the title by a single point.
With one hand on the world championship for the second season running, Hamilton only needs to finish fifth in Brazil if Massa wins his home race.

The McLaren team are determined not to jeopardise Hamilton’s title chances by pushing for victory at Interlagos but in first practice the two title rivals were evenly matched.
With scattered spots of rain falling, the Englishman set the pace with his second effort of 1:12.495.
But with nine minutes left on the clock, Massa shaved off a little more time to eclipse Hamilton’s benchmark by 0.190 secs and take top spot.

****

Fabulous Fijians floor French at World Cup

WOLLONGONG, (AFP) - Fiji spectacularly ended France’s rugby league World Cup with a blistering 42-6 Pool Two victory here Saturday to virtually ensure themselves a crack at the semi-finals.

The “Bati”, comprising an exciting backline of pacy National Rugby League stars, blew away the French with their athleticism and sheer power for a comprehensive seven-tries-to-one victory in a crowd-pleasing spectacle.

Newcastle Knights winger Akuila Uate equalled a Fijian record of tries in a World Cup game with three as the Fijians all but ensured a place in the November 10 semi-final play-off.
Fiji will clinch their play-off spot with victory against Scotland in Gosford on Wednesday.

****