Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Phillies' Rollins yearns to be king of the hill, top of the heap


NEW YORK — The stage is the biggest. The lights are the brightest. The stakes are the highest.

This is New York City. And this, Jimmy Rollins says, is where the Philadelphia Phillies will win the World Series, for the second year in a row, and become one of the greatest teams in the past half-century.

The Yankees might be up 3-2 with Game 6 scheduled today at Yankee Stadium, but the Phillies shortstop packed his bags for two games. "Phillies in seven," Rollins says.

The Phillies would become the first visiting team to throw a party at the Yankees' new $1.5 billion crib.

"Wow, playing the Yankees in the World Series, and now to beat them at Yankee Stadium," Rollins says. "It doesn't get any better than that.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Hendon: The week that was


Eurosport commentator David Hendon looks back on the week that was, including Rory McLeod's win at the Masters qualifying event.

So well done to Rory McLeod for winning the Masters qualifying event.

His career seems to have blossomed much later than you would expect. Rory's 38 now but in the last year made three successive centuries against Ronnie O'Sullivan at the UK Championship, qualified for the Crucible for the first time and is now Wembley bound.

A Wellingborough boy of Jamaican parents, McLeod now lives in Qatar.

During the Masters qualifiers he spent time between matches listening to verses from the Koran in an attempt to relax himself. It obviously worked and he now waits to see whether he will play Mark Williams or Mark King.

This will depend on who the other wildcard is. Liang Wenbo is hot favourite and will surely only miss out if there is a shock winner of the UK Championship.

You will recall McLeod and King played out a long, often tedious match at the World Championship last season that went into an extra session, so if they are paired together again I fear for the sanity of whoever is making the decision.

Better to pair McLeod with Williams and King with Liang.

Not that Rory will care who he plays. Snooker professionals at all levels are well used to the setbacks and disappointments that inevitably come as part and parcel of a sporting career.

This, though, is a moment to relish.

The Masters is the game's most prestigious invitation tournament and to many players second only to the World Championship in terms of prestige.

Stephen Hendry won it a record six times and has appeared in a record nine finals.

He likes a record, does Stephen, just as he likes a trophy.

On Sunday he won his 74th in defeating Ken Doherty 5-3 to win the first 110sport Legends event in Glenrothes.

I can report it was a fun weekend, although the action was serious as the old warhorses locked horns once again.

I was alarmed by the sight of a frail Alex Higgins unable to produce any sort of form but cheered by Cliff Thorburn's warmth towards him and the Canadian's general charisma.

Hendry was a fitting winner, given that his legendary status cannot be questioned.

He remains snooker's greatest ever player. Tony Drago, with whom I did some commentary, also pointed out that he has profoundly changed snooker.

"Stephen is the most attacking player I have ever played. All the players who have come since have copied him," he said.

While we were enjoying ourselves in Scotland, Ricky Walden was out pounding the streets as he completed the New York marathon in a time of four hours, 17 minutes.

That sounds pretty good to me and Ricky raised around £1,500 for the Teenage Cancer Trust.

Meanwhile, the WPBSA board member, Jim McMahon, made an attempt to broker peace in the civil war afflicting Scottish amateur snooker and came very close, but the old order - having agreed on a way forward with the rival group - reneged on it at the last minute.

The WPBSA understandably withdrew from the mediation process and have now taken away the main tour place for Scotland.

While I was in Scotland I heard nothing but bad things about those who have been running Scottish Snooker for the last few years.

Their actions have now resulted in the young Scottish players they are supposed to be representing suffering the ignominy of not having a place on the circuit to play for.

If this doesn't galvanise action north of the border, surely nothing will.

Next up in November is Pro Challenge Series event three in Leicester, followed by the UK Championship qualifiers.

Also, the IBSF world amateur championship takes place in India, starting on the 15th.

NPB Japanese Baseball Draft Winners: Hiroshima Carp


The Hiroshima Carp came away from the NPB Japanese baseball draft the hands down winners on Thursday. After swiping up Ren Nakata last year from hometown Koryo High School, the Carp added to their young pitching corps by snagging Takeru Imamura from Seiho High School with their first pick, and adding pitcher Shota Dobayashi from Koshien winners Chukyo High School in round two. Imamura is thought to be the second best player in the draft behing Yusei Kikuchi, who was awared to the Seibu Lions by lottery.

If that was not impressive enough, in the third round they grabbed Hisashi Takeuchi, arguably one of the best pitchers at the college level from Hosei University and infielder Hayato Shoji from Tokoha Kikukawa High School in Shizuoka, who improved his stock greatly in the 2009 Koshien tournament.

Afridi inspires Pakistan to crushing victory


ABU DHABI: Shahid Afridi smashed 70 off 50 deliveries and took two wickets Tuesday to lead Pakistan to a 138-run win over New Zealand in the first one-day international.

Afridi put on 101 in less than 15 overs with Kamran Akmal, who made 67 not out from 43 balls, to help Pakistan reach 287-9 after having lost two wickets for no runs at the start of its innings.

Akmal belted five boundaries and four sixes, while Afridi hammered four fours and three sixes.

Khalid Latif, playing in only his second ODI and replacing the more experienced Shoaib Malik, made 64 from 112 balls.

Afridi was then one of four Pakistan bowlers to take two wickets, finishing with 2-46 as New Zealand was dismissed for 149 with more than 10 overs remaining at the neutral venue of Sheikh Zayed Stadium.

Aaron Redmond top-scored with 52 for New Zealand, while captain Daniel Vettori made 38.
Captain Younis Khan hailed the victory as a ‘complete team performance.’

‘We started on the wrong foot, but luckily Afridi and Akmal did the job for us,’ he said.

Mohammad Yousuf and Umar Akmal put on 54 in 15 overs to rebuild Pakistan's innings after fast bowler Shane Bond dismissed opener Salman Butt and captain Younis Khan in his first two overs.

Yousuf was then run out by Martin Guptill as he hesisted for a quick single, and Umar Akmal was bowled by an arm ball from Vettori to leave Pakistan were 75-4 in the 24th over.

Afridi, the captain of Pakistan's Twenty20 side, and Latif then picked up the momentum. Afridi brought up his 30th half-century in only 37 balls, hitting across the line on a flat pitch with plenty of bounce to step up the run rate.

Latif had a slice of luck on 34 when he was dropped by wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum down the leg side.

Only Jacob Oram kept his composure as Afridi cut loose despite just returning from a hamstring injury.
Afridi departed in the 42nd over, moving across for a paddle sweep but holing out to Ian Butler at short fine leg off Oram.

That left Pakistan on 176, and Latif was out eight runs later after deflecting a ball from Vettori on to his stumps.

Kamran Akmal and Abdul Razzaq (26 from 20 balls) helped Pakistan score 104 runs in the last nine overs.

Bond finished with 2-61, while New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori took 2-34.

New Zealand also made a sedate start after a tight spell by new ball bowlers Mohammad Aamer and Umar Gul. Both worked up decent pace. Aamer, hailed as the next Akram, was particularly impressive with his first seven overs costing only 15 runs.

He bowled Brendon McCullum for 21 and Martin Guptill for 4 within two overs after both tried to force the pace.

Younis' persistence with Aamer also paid off as Ross Taylor was caught behind for 0 by Kamran Akmal to an angling delivery to leave New Zealand on 35-3 in the 11th over.

Scott Styris went for 5 only 15 runs later, caught by substitute Imran Farhat off Abdul Razzaq. Redmond and Vettori then provided some brief resistance with their right-left hand batting combination adding 69 runs for the fifth wicket.

Offspinner Saeed Ajmal provided the breakthrough, trapping Redmond lbw.

It was then Afridi's turn to strike as Vettori played on to his stumps and Nathan McCullum was bowled next delivery. The hat trick was saved but the Blacks Caps caved in, the last six wickets adding only 30 runs.

Vettori said the total was too much to chase.

‘We were on course to restrict them to 220-230 but Afridi and Akmal were fantastic,’ Vettori said. ‘They took the game from us.

‘After losing early wickets it was always going to be difficult. We thought if we could keep the target to 100 from the last 10 overs we could get there with the help of batting powerplay.’

Pakistan overwhelm Russia 5-0 in qualifiers


KARACHI: It was smooth sailing again for favourites Pakistan in the World Cup hockey qualifiers on Sunday as they overwhelmed Russia 5-0 at the Metropole Hockey Club in the French city of Lille.

According to the information received here, Pakistan, who won their opening match against Italy on Saturday by the same score line, led 3-0 at interval.

Experienced striker Rehan Butt opened the account for Pakistan through an individual field attempt in the 23rd minute followed by another field goal by frontrunner Shakeel Abbasi in the 31st minute. Sohail Abbas also did his bit by converting a 33rd-minute penalty-corner.

The second session saw Pakistan scoring twice with centre-half Mohammad Imran (37th minute) and centre-forward Abdul Haseem Khan (43rd minute) scoring through a penalty-corner and a field goal, respectively.

In Sunday’s remaining fixtures, Japan, who trounced Russia 4-0 on Saturday, easily defeated Poland 3-2 with all the goals coming in the first half while hosts France beat Italy 3-0 after leading by a solitary goal at the interval.

Meanwhile, France were held to a 2-2 draw by Poland in Saturday’s last match.

Pakistan and Japan have each collected six points with the former on top on goal difference. France have four points and Poland one. Monday is a rest day in the tournament.

Tuesday’s fixtures: Italy v Japan; Poland v Russia; Pakistan v France.

Pakistan v New Zealand 2009/10 / Scorecard


Pakistan v New Zealand

Pakistan won by 138 runs


Pakistan innings (50 overs maximum) R B 4s 6s SR
View dismissal Salman Butt c †BB McCullum b Bond 0 4 0 0 0.00
View dismissal Khalid Latif b Vettori 64 112 2 0 57.14
View dismissal Younis Khan* c †BB McCullum b Bond 0 3 0 0 0.00
View dismissal Mohammad Yousuf run out (Guptill) 30 49 4 0 61.22
View dismissal Umar Akmal b Vettori 9 18 0 0 50.00
View dismissal Shahid Afridi c Butler b Oram 70 50 4 3 140.00

Kamran Akmal not out 67 43 5 4 155.81
View dismissal Abdul Razzaq c Styris b Butler 26 20 1 2 130.00
View dismissal Umar Gul run out (Vettori/Butler) 0 1 0 0 0.00
View dismissal Mohammad Aamer c †BB McCullum b Southee 0 1 0 0 0.00

Saeed Ajmal not out 0 1 0 0 0.00

Extras (lb 8, w 11, nb 2) 21











Total (9 wickets; 50 overs) 287 (5.74 runs per over)
Fall of wickets1-0 (Salman Butt, 0.4 ov), 2-0 (Younis Khan, 2.1 ov), 3-57 (Mohammad Yousuf, 16.6 ov), 4-75 (Umar Akmal, 23.3 ov), 5-176 (Shahid Afridi, 38.2 ov), 6-184 (Khalid Latif, 41.1 ov), 7-270 (Abdul Razzaq, 48.2 ov), 8-271 (Umar Gul, 48.4 ov), 9-277 (Mohammad Aamer, 49.1 ov)










Bowling O M R W Econ

View wickets SE Bond 10 2 61 2 6.10 (3w)
View wicket TG Southee 10 2 54 1 5.40

View wicket IG Butler 7 0 54 1 7.71 (2nb, 2w)
View wicket JDP Oram 10 0 47 1 4.70 (1w)
View wickets DL Vettori 10 1 34 2 3.40


NL McCullum 3 0 29 0 9.66










New Zealand innings (target: 288 runs from 50 overs) R B 4s 6s SR
View dismissal BB McCullum b Umar Gul 21 27 4 0 77.77
View dismissal AJ Redmond lbw b Saeed Ajmal 52 91 6 0 57.14
View dismissal MJ Guptill b Umar Gul 4 9 0 0 44.44
View dismissal LRPL Taylor c †Kamran Akmal b Mohammad Aamer 0 5 0 0 0.00
View dismissal SB Styris c sub (Imran Farhat) b Abdul Razzaq 5 17 0 0 29.41
View dismissal DL Vettori* b Shahid Afridi 38 41 1 0 92.68
View dismissal JDP Oram b Abdul Razzaq 9 23 1 0 39.13
View dismissal NL McCullum lbw b Shahid Afridi 0 1 0 0 0.00
View dismissal IG Butler run out (Umar Gul) 4 7 1 0 57.14

SE Bond not out 4 9 0 0 44.44
View dismissal TG Southee lbw b Saeed Ajmal 1 7 0 0 14.28

Extras (lb 8, w 2, nb 1) 11











Total (all out; 39.2 overs) 149 (3.78 runs per over)
Fall of wickets1-30 (BB McCullum, 7.4 ov), 2-34 (Guptill, 9.2 ov), 3-35 (Taylor, 10.2 ov), 4-50 (Styris, 15.1 ov), 5-119 (Redmond, 29.3 ov), 6-139 (Vettori, 34.5 ov), 7-139 (NL McCullum, 34.6 ov), 8-139 (Oram, 35.3 ov), 9-144 (Butler, 37.2 ov), 10-149 (Southee, 39.2 ov)










Bowling O M R W Econ

View wicket Mohammad Aamer 7 1 15 1 2.14

View wickets Umar Gul 6 3 24 2 4.00 (1nb)
View wickets Abdul Razzaq 9 1 38 2 4.22

View wickets Shahid Afridi 10 0 46 2 4.60 (2w)
View wickets Saeed Ajmal 7.2 0 18 2 2.45

Match details
Toss Pakistan, who chose to bat
Series Pakistan led the 3-match series 1-0
Player of the match Shahid Afridi (Pakistan)
Umpires Asad Rauf (Pakistan) and BNJ Oxenford (Australia)
TV umpire Zameer Haider (Pakistan)
Match referee AJ Pycroft (Zimbabwe)
Reserve umpire Nadeem Ghauri (Pakistan)
Match notes
  • Pakistan innings
  • Power Play 2: Overs 10.1 - 15.0
  • Drinks: Pakistan - 48/2 in 15.0 overs (Khalid Latif 21, Mohammad Yousuf 22)
  • Pakistan: 50 runs in 16.3 overs (102 balls), Extras 5
  • 3rd Wicket: 50 runs in 89 balls (Khalid Latif 22, Mohammad Yousuf 26, Ex 5)
  • Pakistan: 100 runs in 28.5 overs (177 balls), Extras 6
  • 5th Wicket: 50 runs in 45 balls (Khalid Latif 15, Shahid Afridi 34, Ex 1)
  • Khalid Latif: 50 off 93 balls (2 x 4)
  • Shahid Afridi: 50 off 36 balls (2 x 4, 3 x 6)
  • Pakistan: 150 runs in 34.4 overs (212 balls), Extras 6
  • Drinks: Pakistan - 150/4 in 35.0 overs (Khalid Latif 54, Shahid Afridi 51)
  • 5th Wicket: 100 runs in 90 balls (Khalid Latif 29, Shahid Afridi 70, Ex 2)
  • Power Play 3: Overs 42.1 - 47.0
  • Pakistan: 200 runs in 43.1 overs (264 balls), Extras 7
  • 7th Wicket: 50 runs in 33 balls (Kamran Akmal 32, Abdul Razzaq 12, Ex 8)
  • Pakistan: 250 runs in 47.3 overs (292 balls), Extras 15
  • Kamran Akmal: 50 off 35 balls (5 x 4, 2 x 6)
  • Innings Break: Pakistan - 287/9 in 50.0 overs (Kamran Akmal 67, Saeed Ajmal 0)
  • New Zealand innings
  • Power Play 2: Overs 10.1 - 15.0
  • New Zealand: 50 runs in 14.6 overs (91 balls), Extras 4
  • Drinks: New Zealand - 50/3 in 15.0 overs (AJ Redmond 16, SB Styris 5)
  • New Zealand: 100 runs in 23.5 overs (145 balls), Extras 7
  • 5th Wicket: 50 runs in 53 balls (AJ Redmond 26, DL Vettori 21, Ex 3)
  • AJ Redmond: 50 off 82 balls (6 x 4)
  • Power Play 3: Overs 39.1 - 44.0

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