was approcahed by bookie: vincent
Wellington: Former New Zealand international lou Vincent confirmed on Thursday that he failed to tell authorities when a bookmaker approached him about fixing a match in Bangladesh, but said that was the extent of any wrongdoing. Vincent said he had pleaded guilty to breaching the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) anti-corruption code by not reporting the approach while playing in the scandal-tainted Bangladesh Premier league (BPl) last year. “I confirm I rejected this approach at the time. There is no allegation or suggestion that anything untoward occurred beyond the approach itself,” Vincent said in a statement. The 35-year-old, who played in 23 Tests and 102 one-day internationals for New Zealand, added: “I have no involvement in any of the matches, or matters involving the other parties which were the subject of recent hearings and investigation in Bangladesh.”
Warner fined
Cape Town: Australia opener David Warner has been fined 15 per cent of his match fee after pleading guilty to a charge of making inappropriate comments about South Africa player AB de Villiers ahead of the third and final Test, which starts here on Saturday. Warner was found to have breached Article 2.1.7 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to public criticism of, or inappropriate comment in relation to an incident occurring in an international match or any player, player support personnel, match official or team participating in any international match. Warner on Thursday admitted the offence and accepted the proposed sanction offered to him by Roshan Mahanama of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees. As such, there was no need for a formal hearing. The charge related to comments made by Warner on Tuesday during an interview on Australian radio.
Powell set to learn fate on Apr 10
Kingston: Jamaican sprint star Asafa Powell must wait until April 10 to learn if he can resume his career this year after submissions were completed Wednesday in a doping hearing. The three-member Jamaica Anti-Doping Disciplinary Panel heard final arguments from attorneys representing Powell and the Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission (JADCO) completed submissions in the case today. Powell, a former world 100-metre champion, and training partner Sherone Simpson tested positive for the banned stimulant oxilofrine after the 100m final at the Jamaican national championships last June 21. Powell, who set a world record in the 100 metres in 2008 with a time of 9.74 seconds, blames Canadian physical therapist Chris Xuereb for the positive test, saying he provided the nutritional supplement, Epiphany D1, that resulted in the positive test.
WIndies, England face-off
North Sound: Two teams in dire need of rehabilitation ahead of the next global cricketing contest start what should be an intriguing fortnight of competition on Friday when the West Indies host England in Antigua. While the next World Cup in Australia and New Zealand is still just under a year away, the Caribbean side’s defence of the World T20 crown begins in three weeks’ time in Bangladesh. So it will be no surprise if there is even greater interest and purpose attached to the three T20 fixtures between Dwayne Bravo’s men and Stuart Broad’s side in Barbados the week following the final ODI. However, in the almost immediate aftermath of horrendous foreign campaigns, victories for either side in any format and against any opposition will be welcome.
Arvind reaches quarterfinals Mulheim an der Ruhr (Germany): Arvind Bhat continued his impressive run to enter the men’s singles quarterfinals of the USD 120,000 German Open Grand Prix Gold after posting a straight-game victory over Daren liew of Malaysia, here on Thursday. However, it was curtains for Anand Pawar in another men’s singles third round match as the World No. 34 Indian went down to Tien Chen Chou of Chinese Taipei 14-21, 11-21 in just half-an-hour. Former national champion Bhat, ranked 82nd, who on Wednesday stunned World No. 10 Yun Hu, had an easy outing on Thursday. He got the better of liew 21-14, 21-12 in a contest that lasted 39 minutes. In the quarters, Bhat will take on the winner of the third round match between Kento Momota and Viktor Axelsen.
India finish 5th in U-19 World Cup
Sharjah: India finished fifth in the Under-19 World Cup after a strong batting effort saw them overcome the West Indies by 46 runs in a high-scoring classification match here on Thursday. In the fifth/sixth position play-off match, India overcame Tagenarine Chanderpaul’s century to emerge victorious at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. Opting to bat first, India’s Ankush Bains (74), Sanju Samson (67) and Shreyas Iyer (66) batted well to help India post 340/8 in 50 overs, the highest team total of the tournament. For the West Indies, Gudakesh Motie picked up three for 52 and Preston McSween bagged two for 74. Chanderpaul then scored 112 from 136 balls with eight fours and a six as the West Indies, chasing India’s mammoth total, finished at 294 for eight.
Bopanna-Qureshi win
Dubai: Second seeds Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-ul-haq Qureshi survived a scare before diffusing the challenge of Mahesh Bhupathi and Denis Istomin in the quarterfinals of the ATP 500 Dubai Duty Free Championships, here on Thursday. The Indo-Pak Express came back from a set down to beat their unseeded but very experienced rivals 5-7 7-6(3) 10-7 via Super Tie breaker to move to the semifinals of the $ 2,359,935 hard court event. After two tight sets, the Match tie breaker was no different as the two pair were neck and neck in the first 10 points. The second seeds then took three points in a row which put Bhupathi and Istomin under pressure.
Rashid leads by four strokes
New Delhi: A double bogey threatened to spoil his card but Rashid Khan made a superb recovery as he scored a three-under 69 to lead the field by four strokes at the halfway stage of the SAIl-SBI Open at the Delhi Golf Course here on Thursday. The 23-year-old Indian, who launched his full Asian tour season with a sizzling career-best 11-under 61, found the going tough on Thursday after starting from backnine as he treaded three birdies and an eagle with a double bogey in the second round to aggregate 14-under 130. Bangladesh’s Siddikur Rahman, Australia’s Unho Park and Sri lanka’s Mithun Perera shared the second spot with a two-day total of 10-under 134. Siddikur was en epitome of consistency as he fired a consecutive five-under 67 while Park blasted a seven-under 65 to go with his 69 on day one. PNS/Agencies