SPORTS

DUBAI: Pakistan captain Mohammad Yousuf and former captain Younis Khan have come down further in the ICC Test ranking while Sachin Tendulkar of India has again been placed in the Top-Ten.

According to the new Test ranking, no change has been seen in the first eight positions.

Gautam Gambhir of India continued to be on top position whereas Graeme Smith of South Africa is on second and Mahela Jayawardene is on third position.

Yousuf went down from eleventh to twelfth and Younis from 12th to 13th position in the new ranking.

Tendulkar has again been included in the Top Ten as he went up from 13th to ninth position.

Among bowlers, Dale Steyn of South Africa remained on top while Mitchell Johnson of Australia is on second and Mohammad Asif of Pakistan is on third position.

Indian pace bowler Zaheer Khan has been promoted by five places from eleventh to sixth position.

LINCOLN: Australia Under-19 cricket team has trounced Sri Lanka juniors by two wickets in the semifinal counter of the World Cup event, thus booking their appearance for the final counter of the event due to be played with already qualified Pakistan on January 30 this month.

Sri Lanka U-19, winning the toss, decided to bat first and could only accumulated 205 runs for the loss of all ten wickets in 48.2 overs.

Fernando and Vithanage were the two top scorers from Lankan side with 52 and 40 runs respectively while Hazel Wood from Australia bagged 4 wickets for 26 runs in 8.2 overs.

Replying to an easy ask, Aussies staggered throughout their innings but could successfully manage to achieve target in 48.2 overs with only two wickets in hands – thanks to two remarkable knocks.

Marsh missed out his century and was caught and bowled on 97 by Buddhika besides, another batsman Triffitt smashed quick 50 runs as major contributors from their sides to hand their team historical victory.

Pakistan and Australian Under-19 teams will meet in the final of the tournament to be played on January 30 here at Lincoln.

ADELAIDE: Pakistan’s series of failures still continues as they lost the five-match series to Australia, being beaten in the first three consecutive One-day Internationals.

However, Pakistan showed a good fighting spirit chasing a difficult target of 287 runs in the third ODI here at the Adelaide Oval on Tuesday and at one time it was looking as they can achieve it. But they were all out for 246 runs as Australia won the match by 40 runs.

First, Umar Akmal and Fawad Alam set the tempo adding 85 runs for the fifth wicket stand and later Shahid Afridi and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan made 58 for the seventh wicket partnership.

Umar Akmal top scored with 59 runs while Shahid Afridi smashed 40 off 29 balls with four boundaries and a six.

Other main scorers were opener Salman Butt (34), middle-order batsman Fawad Alam (33) and allrounder Rana Naved (33).

The most successful bowler for Australia was seamer Ryan Harris, who captured five wickets for 43 runs, while spinner Clinton McKay bagged three for 48.

Harris, who replaced injured Peter Siddle in this match, was later adjudged the man-of-the-match.

Shane Watson and spinner Nathan Hauritz took one wicket each.

Earlier, Australia batted first after winning the toss and amassed 286 runs for the loss of six wickets in the allotted 50 overs.

Opener Shuan Marsh and vice-captain Michael Clarke were the main scorers with 83 and 80 runs, respectively while Michael Hussey (49), opener Shane Watson (33) and Cameron White (28) also made significant contributions to their team’s huge total.

Captain Ricky Ponting was the only batsman to be dismissed for a nought.

For Pakistan, seamers Rana Naved-ul-Hasan and Umar Gul claimed two wickets each while off-spinner Saeed Ajmal and fast bowler Mohammad Asif took one wicket each.

Pakistan made two changes against one by Australia. They brought in Mohammad Asif, recovered from his hand trouble, to replace Mohammad Aamer who is out with the groin injury,. They also got Fawad Alam in for Shoaib Malik.

SYDNEY: Pakistan again displayed a poor show in the five-match series against Australia as they were beaten by 140 runs in the second One-day International here at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Sunday.

Chasing the target of 268 runs, Pakistan collapsed for a meagre total of 127 runs in 37.3 overs.

However, Australia’s victory was delayed by Pakistan captain Mohammad Yousuf and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan who resisted with a 46-run eighth wicket valuable partnership from 46 balls.

Yousuf batted with calm and patience to show his team that there is nothing wrong in the wicket nor the Aussies bowlers were unplayable.

Yousuf occupied the crease for 134 minutes and faced 94 balls to make 58 with three fours and a six. This was his 64th half-century in One-day International career.

Naved-ul-Hasan contributed 27 from 22 balls with two fours and a six.

Among others, only Kamran Akmal (16) could enter into double figures. Two of the main batsmen, Younis Khan and Umar Akmal, were dismissed for a nought.

Pace bowler Clint McKay bagged three wickets for15 runs while Doug Bollinger and spinner Nathan Hauritz claimed two wickets each.

Earlier, Australia made 267 runs for the loss of six wickets in the allotted 50 overs after put into bat by Pakistan captain Mohammad Yousuf.

Openers Shane Watson and Shaun Marsh provided their team a solid start of exact 100 runs in 19.5 overs before Pakistani spinners stopped the Australian batting firwork and got three more wickets for 66 runs.

Watson hammered 69 from 71 balls with nine fours and a six while Marsh made 41 off 60 balls and both were dismissed by leg-spinner Shahid Afridi.

Captain Ponting could make 13 and his deputy Michael Clarke 25 before Cameron White and Michael Hussey added 55 runs for the fifth wicket stand.

Hussey departed for 29 when Australia reached 221 but White, who hit a century to help Australia win the first match of the series, again displayed fine stroke-play and made 55 off 58 balls with four boundaries and a six.

For Pakistan, fast bowler Mohammad Aamer captured three wickets for 53 and Afridi claimed two for 35 while Umar Gul took one wicket.