ST PETERSBURG: Britain’s Andy Murray and third seed Russian Mikhail Youzhny reached semi-finals of the St Petersburg Open.

Second seed Andy Murray came from behind to beat Russian Dmitry Tursunov 3-6 7-6 6-4 to reach the semi-finals of the St Petersburg Open.

After dropping a set for the first time in three matches, the 20-year-old Briton saved several break points before winning the second on a tiebreak. Read the rest of this entry »

WELLINGTON: New Zealand all rounder Craig McMillan is retiring from cricket for health and personal reasons.

McMillan, 31, said he wanted to end his career on a high after strong performances in the recent Twenty20 World Cup, in which he was New Zealand’s highest scorer. “I have decided that the time is right for me to retire from cricket to spend more time with my family, as well as look after my health, as I have had ongoing issues related to diabetes,” McMillan said in a statement on Wednesday. Read the rest of this entry »

MUMBAI: The seventh and the final One-day International between India and Australia is being played today at Mumbai. Geo Super will telecast the match live from Mumbai.

Australia has already won the seven-match series 4-1 while the first One-day International was washed out. Australia’s captain Ricky Ponting said that his team would try to win the final match also. He is very much satisfied with the performance of his team. Read the rest of this entry »

LAHORE: Pakistan’s captain, Shoaib Malik has said with return of Inzamam and Yousuf the hosts hope win Lahore Test to square the series against South Africa.

South African captain Graeme Smith said his team have made a game plan for Inzamam and Yousuf.

Pakistan will play their second Test against South Africa on Monday (tomorrow) at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium. South Africa is leading the two-match Test series 1-0. Pakistan lost the Karachi Test by 160 runs to visitors.In a press conference at Gaddafi Stadium Shoaib Malik said: “We batted poorly in the first Test but with Inzamam and Yousuf coming in the side I hope our batting will be very strong. This is our chance to square the series and we will do our best to do that.” Read the rest of this entry »

NEW YORK: American track champion Marion Jones announced her retirement from athletics moments after pleading guilty to lying to federal investigators about her use of steroids.

“Because of my actions, I am retiring from the sport of track and field, a sport which I deeply love,” Jones said outside the courthouse, tears streaming down her cheeks. “I promise that these events will be used to make the lives of many people improve, that making the wrong choices and bad decisions can be disastrous.” Read the rest of this entry »

Shoaib Malik believes his young side can transform their Twenty20 form into success during the forthcoming Test series against South Africa. Pakistan finished runners-up to India in the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 in South Africa, making a remarkable comeback after their disastrous World Cup campaign in West Indies earlier this year.

“South Africa are a very good team so we have to be at our best to beat them. But I am confident that we have some good players who can transform their Twenty20 form into Test cricket,” Malik told reporters on his return from Johannesburg. The Test series will be Malik’s first as captain since his appointment in the wake of Pakistan’s first-round exit from the World Cup in March. According to him, Pakistan did not miss the experience of senior players such as Inzamam-ul-Haq and Mohammad Yousuf in the Twenty20 tournament. Read the rest of this entry »

AUCKLAND: Daniel Vettori was confirmed as New Zealand’s 26th Test captain when he was chosen Thursday to lead the New Zealand cricket team on next month’s two-test tour to South Africa.

Vettori replaces Stephen Fleming, New Zealand’s captain for the past decade, who was dropped from the position earlier this month after resigning the limited-overs captaincy. Fleming, however, retained his place in the 15-man test squad as a specialist batsman. Read the rest of this entry »

DURBAN: Twenty20 World Cup final will be played today (Monday) between two traditional rivals and superpowers of Asian Cricket, Pakistan and India.

Earlier in Saturday semi-final against New Zealand, Pakistan routed the opponents by six wickets. In another semi-final, India threw out Australia by 15 runs. Fans of cricket in Pakistan said, this match is extremely important for Pakistani side, adding Pakistan will have to win this match at all costs as a best gift to the people of Pakistan to coincide with the happy occasion of eid.