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No DRS for India-Australia series

The Decision Review System will not be used in the forthcoming Test and ODI series between hosts India and Australia. “There won’t be any DRS in the series. We have already written to ICC,” said BCCI’s CAO,Prof Ratnakar Shetty. Australia are to play two Tests and three ODIs. On July 1,the ICC Executive Board approved 13 recommendations relating to the use of DRS in Test matches. One of the decisions was that the host member board would determine whether to use DRS in home Test series (following consultation with the visiting country).

No Test cap for Pak keeper

The Pakistan Cricket Board and the team management in England have landed themselves in another controversy after it was revealed that wicketkeeper Zulqarnain Haider was not given the ceremonial Test cap nor was the routine ceremony held for him when he made his debut against England at Edgbaston. Interestingly,during the same tour,the management awarded Test caps to Umar Amin,Azhar Ali and Wahab Riaz and held the cap handing over ceremony when they made their debuts.

Sania in US Open main draw

Sania Mirza sealed a berth in the women’s singles main draw of the US Open with a 6-1 1-6 6-3 win over Columbia’s Catalina Castano in the third and final round of the qualifying event. U.S. Open top seed Caroline Wozniacki came back from behind in the third set to beat Russian Elena Dementieva 1-6,6-3,7-6 (5) and earn her third consecutive trip to the finals of the Pilot Pen tennis tournament. The Danish star is 12-0 in matches in New Haven. She will play Nadia Petrova in Saturday’s final.

Bopanna-Qureshi stun Bhupathi

Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi advanced to their third ATP Tour final of the season with an 6-4 6-4 win over second seeds Mahesh Bhupathi and Max Mirnyi at the Pilot Pen Tennis tournament at New Haven. They will take on Wimbledon finalists Robert Lindstedt and Horia Tecau,who defeated Julian Knowle and Andy Ram 6-4,6-3 in their semifinal. With this win Bopanna and Qureshi could win their first ATP tour title together. They had reached the final of the France event in May and Casablanca in April earlier in the year.

India end Portugal tour with draw

Indian national football team on Saturday played out a 1-1 draw with Portuguese third division outfit Odivelas Futebol Clube in the last practice match of their Portugal tour in Lisbon. The Portuguese side struck in the 60th minute,but India retaliated with defender N S Manju restoring parity two minutes later. India ended their two-month tour of Portugal,which is part of their preparation for next year’s Asian Cup,after playing 10 practice matches,all of them against third or second division sides. India won six times,drew and lost twice each.

Chelsea,Arsenal,Man U win

Premier League leader Chelsea maintained its 100 percent start to the season with a 2-0 home win over Stoke thanks to goals by Florent Malouda and Didier Drogba,while Arsenal and Manchester United ended victorious on Saturday. Russia forward Andrey Arshavin scored a 51st-minute winner as Arsenal beat Blackburn 2-1. United also stayed unbeaten and two points behind Chelsea after thrashing West Ham 3-0,with Wayne Rooney scoring the first to end his barren run in front of goal. Elsewhere,Tottenham lost surprisingly 1-0 at home to previously bottom Wigan,Blackpool and Fulham drew 2-2 and Wolverhampton was held 1-1 by Newcastle.

Tyson wins final,clocks 9.79 secs

US sprinter Tyson Gay overcame a false start to steam to victory in the 100m at the season’s final Diamond League meet here on Friday. Gay settled his nerves after a starter’s error to clock 9.79sec to be crowned the season’s top performer in the event,netting 40,000 dollars. Jamaican duo Nesta Carter and Yohan Blake completed the podium. However,Caster Semenya failed in her bid to win the women’s 800m and had to settle for the third spot.Kenya’s Janeth Jepkosgei dominated the race and won in 1min 58.82sec,with Russian Mariya Savinova second.