England snap losing streak
Perth: England has finally beaten Australia on tour by winning the fourth one-day international by 57 runs at the WACA Ground on Friday. England was whitewashed in the Ashes series and lost the one-day series by conceding the first three matches.Australia rested four regulars - captain Michael Clarke, Shane Watson, Brad Haddin and David Warner - and England took advantage by scoring 316-8, including half centuries to Jos Buttler (71), Ben Stokes (70) and Ian Bell (55). Despite Aaron Finch’s 108 off 111 balls, Australia was all out for 259 by the 48th over. Stokes took 4-39 to continue his impressive tour. Brief Scores: England: 316/8 (Jos Buttler 71, Ben Stokes 70, Ian Bell 55, James Faulkner 4/67) beat Australia: 259 (Aaron Finch 108, Ben Stokes 4/38) by 57 runs
Juncadella joins Force India
Silverstone: Sahara Force India on Friday announced signing young Spaniard Daniel Juncadella as their reserve driver for the 2014 Formula One season. The 22-year-old Juncadella drives for Mercedes in DTM and will now attend all races with the team and take part in several Friday practice sessions. In addition to his duties with Sahara Force India his racing focus will remain on the DTM with Mercedes-Benz. “Joining Sahara Force India is a dream come true. It’s a fantastic opportunity for me to learn and will hopefully take me a step closer to eventually racing in Formula One,” Juncadella said. “To work with the team at the track and in the factory will give me some valuable experience and I will do my best to make a contribution to help the team achieve its goals in 2014,” he added.
5 volleyball players shot dead
Mihtarlam (Afghanistan): Unknown gunmen shot dead five young Afghan men playing volleyball, officials said today, but Taliban insurgents responsible for much of Afghanistan’s unrest denied any involvement in the killings. The players were gunned down in the eastern province of laghman at about noon by attackers riding on a motorbike. “Armed men opened fire on a volleyball game. The players were young men, all innocent, and all of them were killed,” Sarhadi Zwak, spokesman for laghman’s provincial governor, said. The Taliban regime between 1996-2001 banned volleyball and many other activities, but a spokesman for the group said it was not responsible for Thursday’s deaths. “We completely reject this allegation. We are not involved in this killing at all. Those who killed them are not our men,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said.
spot-fixing: bail to alleged bookie
New Delhi: A suspected bookie, said to be in touch with suspended cricketer and co-accused Ajit Chandila in the IPl spot-fixing scandal case, was on Friday granted bail by a Delhi court. Additional Sessions Judge Dharmesh Sharma granted the relief to Praveen Kumar Thakkar, who had surrendered before the court on January 18, observing that other accused in the case are already out on bail. Thakkar was granted bail on a personal bond of Rs 50,000 with one surety of the like amount and the court also imposed several conditions on him, including that he would not leave the country without its permission.
Zol allowed to play Ranji final
Mumbai: India under-19 skipper Vijay Zol would be released from the ongoing national juniors team’s World Cup preparatory camp in Bangalore to play in the Ranji Trophy final for Maharashtra from January 29, Cricket Board sources said on Friday. “Zol would be released to play the Ranji Trophy final (at Hyderabad against Karnataka). He will join the team on January 28 and would have to rejoin the under-19 camp after the conclusion of the final,” said Prof Ratnakar Shetty, BCCI’s General Manager Game Development, here.