Pakistan beat Sri Lanka by 5 wickets in 1st ODI

Pakistan beat Sri Lanka by five wickets in the 1st ODI here on Friday after a superb 73 off just 34 balls from Shahid Afridi.

He even managed to hit 32 off just one over for the second highest number of runs scored in an over, to convert what could have been a tough match into an easy victory with eight overs to spare.

Earlier, a half-century from Farvez Maharoof had helped put Sri Lanka on a final total of 235 for nine in the opening innings at the packed, Sheikh Zayed Stadium.

Pakistan responded with half-centuries from both Kamran Akmal (51 no) and Shahid Afridi (73 no) on their way to 239 for five after just 42 overs.

Umar Gul had been the best bowler for Pakistan with three wickets though he managed to concede 14 runs on the final over as Maharoof went on his way to his unbeaten, 54-ball 69.

Shoaib Malik, captaining Pakistan for the first time, saw his side take the ascendancy early on as Sri Lanka were reduced to 103 for five after 26 overs.

The captain had had a good game, although he lost the toss and Sri Lanka chose to bat first.

Sri Lanka cricket team leaves for Abu Dhabi for Coach Moody’s last tour

May 15, Colombo: Sri Lanka cricket team left for Abu Dhabi today to play three one-day internationals with Pakistan. This is the last tour of the Sri Lanka coach Tom Moody who announced his resignation from the post yesterday.

Australian national Moody announced the resignation officially to the Sri Lanka Cricket yesterday after a half an hour discussion with the officials. His assistant Trevor Penny also handed over his resignation yesterday. Trevor’s contract lasts until the August this year while Moody’s two year contract ends this month.

Meanwhile former Sri Lanka captain Marvan Atapattu was not named to the Abu Dhabi tour. Vice captain Kumar Sangakkara, Muttiah Muralitharan and Chaminda Vass also miss the tour due to commitments with English county cricket. Middle order batsman Malinda Warnapura and paceman Ishara Amarasinghe were taken in anew to the team while spinner Kaushal Lokuarachchi and fast bowler Ruchira Perera have been recalled to the team.

Schedule:
Abu Dhabi ODI Series

Pakistan vs Sri Lanka

(1stODI at Abu Dhabi, 05:30 PM, Fri, 18 May 2007)

(2ndODI at Abu Dhabi, 05:30 PM, Sun, 20 May 2007)

(3rdODI at Abu Dhabi, 05:30 PM, Tue, 22 May 2007)

Woolmer died of heart failure, not murder - report

Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer died of a heart attack and was not murdered, the Jamaican Gleaner newspaper reported Sunday, citing Scotland Yard sources.

Woolmer, 58, was found dead in his Kingston hotel room on March 18, the day after cricketing powers Pakistan crashed out of the World Cup in an upset loss to minnows Ireland.

But the Jamaican police said Sunday they are standing behind their belief that Woolmer was murdered.

"That will remain our position until such time as the results of the investigation are known; including the forensic and pathology analysis," said Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) director of communications Karl Angell in a news release.

Woolmer's death led to a fevered round of speculation. One theory was that his death was linked to match-fixing and illegal betting in cricket, and investigators from Britain and Pakistan were drafted in to help with the probe.

But the Jamaican Gleaner said that a pathology report submitted by Scotland Yard detectives stated that Woolmer "died of natural causes and not manual strangulation as was initially reported by Deputy Commissioner Mark Shields."

"The Scotland Yard report specifically said Woolmer died of heart failure, contradicting earlier reports by the investigative arm of the Jamaica Constabulary Force and local pathologist, Dr Ere Sheshiah, who had conducted a post-mortem on Woolmers's body," the paper said.

The Scotland Yard findings "were disclosed last week during a meeting with Jamaica's Deputy Commissioner of Police Mark Shields and Superintendent Colin Pinnace, who stopped over in London en route to South Africa" where they were heading to meet with Woolmer's family, it added.

Said Angell, "The speculation made in Sunday's newspapers is part of a series of unhelpful reports that have appeared in the media throughout the duration of this investigation," Angell continued in the release.

"The JCF is conducting an extensive and thoroughly professional investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of Bob Woolmer.

"This has included a request to the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) in London to conduct a review of the investigation," the release further quoted Angell saying.

It was also reported on Saturday, that the Jamaican police were close to naming Woolmer's killer.

"The JCF would again urge the media to refrain from speculation because of the additional distress it places upon the Woolmer family and the fact that it can hinder the progress of the investigation," the release added.

Angell also disclosed that Shields and Deputy Superintendent Colin Pinnock have met with the Metropolitan Police review team and the pathology and forensic experts in London.

Angell also said police have departed for South Africa to brief Gill Woolmer and her family on the progress of the investigation.

In addition to their working relationship with Scotland Yard, Angell, said, "due to the open and transparent approach to the Woolmer investigation, the JCF has also welcomed assistance of the Pakistani authorities and INTERPOL."

THREE IN A ROW FOR NADAL

Rafael Nadal has secured his third straight Rome Masters title after defeating Fernando Gonzalez 6-2 6-2 in the final at the Foro Italico.

Not only did the win enable Nadal to equal Thomas Muster's record of three Rome titles, it also both marked his 13th consecutive title on clay and extended his winning streak on the surface to 77 matches.

On the strength of his display in defeating crowd favourite Filippo Volandri on Saturday, the sixth-seeded Chilean had been expected to offer more of a challenge to Nadal.

India clinch Bangladesh series

Gautam Gambhir hit a gutsy 101 as India defeated Bangladesh by 46 runs in the second one-day international here on Saturday to take a decisive 2-0 lead in the three-match series. The left-handed opener's second one-day hundred and an unbeaten 42 from captain Rahul Dravid fired India to 284-8 from 49 overs after they elected to take first strike.

Full scoreboard:

India:

V. Sehwag c Omar b Rasel 21

G. Gambhir b Rasel 101

M. Dhoni c Rahim b Rafique 36

Y. Singh c and b Rafique 24

R. Dravid not out 42

D. Mongia c Rafique b Razzak 17

D. Karthick lbw b Rafique 6

P. Chawla st Rahim b Razzak 1

R. Powar lbw b Mortaza 5

Zaheer Khan not out 9

Extras: (b1, lb7, w9, nb5) 22

Total (for eight wickets) 284

Fall of wickets: 1-43 (Sehwag), 2-130 (Dhoni), 3-174 (Yuvraj), 4-210 (Gambhir), 5-239 (Mongia), 6-251 (Karthick), 7-258 (Chawla), 8-273 (Powar).

Bowling: Mortaza 10-0-57-1 (nb3, w4), Rasel 10-1-49-2 (nb1), Razzak 10-0-59-2 (nb1, w5), Saqibul 7-0-40-0, Rafique 10-0-59-3, Aftab 2-0-12-0

Overs: 49

Bangladesh:

Javed Omar c Karthick b Zaheer 11

Tamim Iqbal run out 7

Aftab Ahmed b Powar 40

Saqibul Hasan c Dhoni b Zaheer 5

Mohammad Ashraful b Chawla 12

Habibur Bashar st Dhoni b Chawla 43

Mushfiqur Rahim c Karthick b Yuvraj 35

Mashrafe Mortaza c Sehwag b Yuvraj 42

Mohammad Rafique c sub (Uthappa) b Chawla 13

Abdur Razzak not out 9

Syed Rasel not out 4

Extras: (b4, lb2, w8, nb3) 17

Total (for nine wickets) 238

Fall of wickets: 1-18 (Tamim), 2-51 (Omar), 3-60 (Saqibul), 4-86 (Ashraful), 5-92 (Aftab), 6-151 (Mushfiqur), 7-176 (Bashar), 8-192 (Rafique), 9-230 (Mortaza).

Bowling: Zaheer 7-0-32-2 (nb3, w1), Patel 7-0-34-0 (w2), Chawla 10-0-37-3 (w2), Powar 10-1-32-1, Mongia 8-0-57-0, Yuvraj 7-0-40-2 (w3)

Overs: 49

India won by 46 runs

Toss: India

Umpires: Asoka De Silva (SRI) and Enamul Haque (BAN)

TV umpire: Akhtaruddin Shaheen (BAN)

Match referee: Roshan Mahanama (SRI)

'Champagne bottles passed on to Woolmer by Ahmed'

In a new twist to the Bob Woolmer murder case, a Pakistani television channel on Thursday claimed that two champagne bottles which were reportedly mixed with poisonous substance were passed on to him by the Pakistan bowling coach Mushtaq Ahmed.

Ahmed, who received the bottles from some other person, passed them to Woolmer, ARY TV quoted Pakistan's media manager for the World Cup, Pervez Mir as saying.

Mir said team manager, Talat Ali, was a witness to it.

According to reports in British media, some weed killer was mixed with the champagne bottles.

ARY TV reported that Ali and the Pakistan Cricket Board, (PCB) Chairman, Dr. Nasim Ashraf declined to comment on it.

According to the channel, Mir stated that Ahmed passed on the two bottles to Woolmer and only Ali and Ahmed knew the identity of the person who handed the bottles.

The bottles were recovered from the Pegasus hotel room of Woolmer who died under mysterious circumstances a day after Pakistan's shocking World Cup defeat at the hands of Ireland. The TV report also said that one bottle was empty and the other was not used.

Mir said Woolmer used to drink beer and he rarely consumed champagne.

Hobbling Dhoni flattens Bangladesh

Mahendra Dhoni battled leg cramps to hit an unbeaten 91 as India defeated their World Cup nemesis Bangladesh by five wickets in the first game of the three-match series here on Thursday.

honi and Dinesh Karthick (58 not out) put on a match-winning stand of 107 for the sixth wicket as the tourists, reduced to 144-5 chasing Bangladesh's 250-7, recovered to win with just six balls to spare.

The second match will be played on Saturday, followed by the third in the port city of Chittagong on May 15.

India will also play two Tests at Chittagong (May 18-22) and Dhaka (May 25-29).

Full scoreboard of the first one-day international between Bangladesh and India at the Sher-e-Bangla national stadium on Thursday:

Bangladesh:

Javed Omar run out 80

Tamim Iqbal c Sehwag b Mongia 45

Habibur Bashar c Gambhir b Powar 0

Saqibul Hasan st Dhoni b Mongia 50

Mohammad Ashraful b Mongia 29

Aftab Ahmed lbw b Sehwag 16

Mohammad Rafique c Karthick b Powar 11

Mushfiqur Rahim not out 1

Extras: (lb1, w13, nb4) 18

Total (for seven wickets) 250

Fall of wickets: 1-78 (Tamim), 2-78 (Bashar), 3-185 (Omar), 4-200 (Saqibul), 5-236 (Ashraful), 6-240 (Aftab), 7-250 (Rafique).

Bowling: Zaheer 7-1-54-0 (nb4, w6), Sreesanth 5-1-14-0 (w1), Patel 7-1-31-0 (w2), Powar 10-0-55-2, Mongia 10-0-49-3, Sehwag 8-0-46-1 (w4)

Overs: 47

India:

G. Gambhir lbw b Rasel 21

V. Sehwag c Saqibul b Rasel 30

M. Dhoni not out 91

Y. Singh c Razzak b Shahadat 1

R. Dravid c Razzak b Saqibul 22

D. Mongia c Aftab b Saqibul 17

D. Karthick not out 58

Extras: (lb4, w6, nb1) 11

Total (for five wickets) 251

Fall of wickets: 1-35 (Gambhir), 2-56 (Sehwag), 3-63 (Yuvraj), 4-112 (Dravid), 5-144 (Mongia).

Bowling: Rasel 9-0-66-2, Shahadat 7-0-43-1 (nb1, w2), Razzak 9-1-35-0 (w3), Rafique 10-0-47-0 (w1), Saqibul 9-0-43-2, Aftab 2-0-13-0

Overs: 46

India won by five wickets

Toss: Bangladesh

Umpires: Asoka De Silva (SRI) and Nadir Shah (BAN)

TV umpire: Akhtaruddin Shaheen (BAN)

Match referee: Roshan Mahanama (SRI)