Scoreboard at completion of the
first Test between New Zealand and Australia in Wellington today:
 New Zealand 1st innings 183
 Australia 1st innings 562
 New Zealand 2nd innings (overnight 178-4)
 T. Latham c Khawaja b Lyon           63
 M. Guptill c Marsh b Lyon            45
 K. Williamson c Nevill b Hazlewood   22
 H. Nicholls b Bird                   59
 B. McCullum lbw Marsh                10
 C. Anderson lbw Marsh                 0
 B. Watling b Lyon                    10
 D. Bracewell lbw Hazlewood           14
 M. Craig not out                     33
 T. Southee c Khawaja b Lyon          48
 T. Boult b Marsh                     12
 Extras: (b2, lb5, nb4)               11
 Total (for 10 wickets, 104.3 overs) 327
 Fall of wickets: 1-81, 2-121, 3-157, 4-178, 5-185, 6-214, 7- 218, 8-242, 9-301.
 Bowling: Hazlewood 29-7-75-2, Bird 19-4-51-1, Siddle 8-0-30- 0, Marsh 17.3-2-73-3, Lyon 31-10-91-4.

Wellington, Feb 15 (AFP) Scoreboard at completion of the

PTI Automatic

Australia inflicted a crushing innings defeat on New Zealand with a day to spare in the first Test in Wellington when they dismissed the home side for 327 today.
     In a Test that will be remembered for two majestic innings by Adam Voges and Usman Khawaja, as well as an umpiring howler, Australia won by an innings and 52 runs.
     Nathan Lyon, Jackson Bird, Mitchell Marsh and Josh Hazlewood all shared the spoils as the last six New Zealand wickets fell for 149 on day four.
     New Zealand had been set a target of 379 just to get in credit in their second innings after Voges' 239 set up Australia's first innings of 562.
     The recognised New Zealand batsmen made starts, but were unable to turn them into big scores.
     After getting to 218-7 it was left to the last three batsmen to add 109 runs. Tim Southee was in a one-day mood with 48 off 23 and Mark Craig contributed an unbeaten 33.
     At the top of the order, Tom Latham scored 63 and Henry Nicholls, on debut, added 59 ...

Australia crush New Zealand with day to spare

Former world champion Viswanathan Anand played out two draws to keep his full point lead in the Zurich Chess Challenge here.
     After two wins against Levon Aronian of Armenia and Dutchman Anish Giri, Anand wriggled out of problems against Latvian Alexei Shirov in the third round game and then played out a draw with Hikaru Nakamura of United States to stay afloat in the Classical-Rapid section.
     With two points for a victory and one for a draw, Anand took his tally to six points overall and will have white pieces against Vladimir Kramnik of Russia in the final round of the Rapid section.
     After the last round, the players will change gears and enter a blitz play-off wherein one point will be awarded for a win and half a point for a draw.
     Nakamura and Kramnik share the second spot on five points apiece. While the American also drew both his games, Kramnik was a class act against Giri in the fourth round that gave him a chance to jump to the joint second spot.
     ...

Anand keeps lead in Zurich challenge

A disappointed Sri Lanka captain Dinesh Chandimal said not playing well in the Power Play overs cost his inexperienced side the just-concluded Twenty20 series against India.
     In Ranchi, the Lankans bowlers bled runs throughout while here in the final match, they lost half the side inside six overs.
     "Throughout the series we played good cricket. In the first game we got momentum but in the second and third games, we did not start well. In Ranchi, we did not bowl well in the first six overs and here we lost four wickets during Power play overs. These are mistakes in the last two games," Chandimal said at after the nine-wicket loss in the third T20 here last night.
     Chandimal also rued the lack of experienced players in the side to counter the Indian team.
     "We have got an inexperienced team. They don't know how to stay at the crease and get some more runs. We struggled with that. I think they will learn as soon as possible and we are looking forward to do well in the ...

Not playing well in Power Play cost us series: Chandimal

The emphatic triumph over Sri
Lanka giving a perfect start to their World Twenty20 build-up, Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said his side will be one of the top contenders at the showpiece even though some top batsmen are yet to get enough time in the middle.
     Due to India's deep batting, not all the batsmen have got enough runs and overs under their belt in the last six T20 matches.
     Dhoni himself and comeback-man Yuvraj Singh have hardly spent time in the middle both in the series against Australia and Sri Lanka.
     "Everybody has not got the chance to bat. But you will keep facing this problem because our batting line-up is deep. We will have to try and give bating to players, who have not batted so far but people who are batting close to 6, 7 or 8, they will have to play big shots because that is going to be certainly be very important for us," Dhoni said after series- clinching nine-wicket win against Sri Lanka here last night.
     "It's not how many runs you have 

We are always top contenders in shorter formats: Dhoni

IAAF President Sebastian Coe has met with the new head of the Russian athletics federation, which was banned from world track and field in November over doping.
	The Russian federation said today that Coe and Dmitry Shlyakhtin met on Friday in Monaco and discussed "Russian athletics and the way to lead it out of the crisis."
	Shlyakhtin briefed Coe on reforms in Russian track and field, saying they are "an issue that can't be solved in one day and which requires systematic and painstaking work," according to the Russian federation.
	Russia was suspended from competition, including the Olympics in August, after a World Anti-Doping Agency commission accused it of operating a systematic and state-sponsored program of drug use by star athletes.
	In order to be readmitted, the IAAF has demanded that Russia investigate whether there were more doping cases not covered in the WADA report, improve anti-doping education for athletes and submit to extra testing for its national team ahead of the 

Coe meets with Russian athletics chief to discuss doping ban

Barely few days left for the
Asia Cup and the ICC World Twenty20, India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni today said "consistent" performances will give his side confidence going into big ticket tournaments.
     Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin weaved his magic with a career-best four-wicket haul as India today trounced Sri Lanka by nine wickets in the deciding third
and final Twenty20 International to clinch the three-match series 2-1.
     And Dhoni feels his boys need to be expressive going into upcoming important assignments.
     "I feel it was a very good game, important we restricted them to a decent total. Ashwin was the pick but he was well supported by the others. In between you will lose one or two games. We want to keep playing the way we re playing. Consistency will give us the confidence," Dhoni said at the post match press conference.
     "We need to be expressive, the fans will put the pressure on us but we need to take it one game at a time," the skipper said when asked ..

Consistency will give us confidence, says Dhoni

Bangladesh today recalled batsman Imrul Kayes in their 15-man squad for the Asia Cup Twenty20 tournament to be held in the capital Dhaka from February 24 to March 6.
     Twenty-nine year old Kayes will replace opener Tamim Iqbal who will take a break due to the birth of his first child.
	"We recalled Imrul because he is the best available option for us in the absence of Tamim," said selector Habibul Bashar.
     The tournament will be held in the Twenty20 international format for the first time and is expected to serve as a warm-up for the ICC World Twenty20 to be held in India in March and April.
	Afghanistan, the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong and Oman will play in a qualifying round for the Asia Cup from February 19 to 22 at Fatullah, on the outskirts of Dhaka.
	The winner of the qualifying round will join the four Test-playing countries, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
	Bangladesh will host the event for the fifth time, with all matches being held at Dhaka's ...

Bangladesh recall Kayes for Asia Cup

South African captain AB de Villiers hit a century and took his side to a series victory in the fifth and final one-day international against England at Newlands today.
    	De Villiers made an unbeaten 101 as South Africa chased down a target of 237 with five wickets and six overs to spare.
	For the third successive match, an English batsman made a century but finished on the losing side.
	Opening batsman Alex Hales hit 112 but lacked significant support from his teammates as England were bowled out for 236 after being sent in to bat.
	The win completed a remarkable turnaround for South Africa after they had been well beaten in the first two matches.
	It also marked a return to his best form for De Villiers, who had not scored a century in seven Test and four one-day innings against the tourists.
	De Villiers walked out to bat with his side in trouble at 22 for three, with all the wickets falling to left-arm opening bowler Reece Topley.
	But De Villiers and Hashim Amla regained ...

De Villiers leads South Africa to series win

Rishank Devadiga, who has so far remained in the shadows of captain Anup Kumar and other stalwarts, sizzled in their absence to script a memorable win for U Mumba against Bengal Warriors in the Pro Kabaddi League here today.
     The 32-21 win enabled the defending champions to finish third with 25 points.
     Rishank and captain Rakesh Kumar, who remained on court for the full duration of the match, will be more than satisfied for having kept the team afloat in the absence of four of their stars.
     The win also helped U Mumba to maintain their unbeaten record against their rivals.
     U Mumba couldn't shake off their opponents till they achieved the all-important first all-out over their rivals.
     Pawan Kumar's couple had put the U Mumba side ahead at 14-10 but the losers caught up soon. But Rishank's decisive raids made it 20-16 in the 30th minute. U Mumba then started giving bonus points to Nitin but at the same time focused on their own strategy to canter ahead 23-16 by ...

Devadiga leads U Mumba to win over Bengal Warriors

Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin weaved his magic with a career-best four-wicket haul as India trounced Sri Lanka by nine wickets in the deciding third and final Twenty20 International to clinch the three-match series 2-1, here today.
     Ashwin scalped two wickets in the very first over and then retruend with dream figures of 4-1-8-4 as the hosts bundled out Sri Lanka 82, their lowest ever score in T20 cricket.
     Before this, Sri Lanka's lowest total was 87 against Australia in 2010 at Bridgetown.
     Ashwin was simply unplayable for the Sri Lankans on a pitch, which offered help to the spinners and took four wickets in his magical three-over opening spell.
     Besides 
Ashwin, Suresh Raina also shone with the ball by scalping two batsmen and giving away just six runs in his two overs.
     The series win also helped India retain its numero uno position in the ICC T20 rankings.
     Such was the plight of the visitors that only two batsmen -- Dasun Shanaka (19) and Thisara ...

Ashwin weaves spin magic as India clinch series 2-1

Jammu and Kashmir's only international cricketer, Parvez Rasool, today said "dedication towards net tractice" plays an important role in the development of a player.
     "Commitment to the game and dedication towards net practice are important for players to make their mark in whichever tournaments they play," Rasool said.
     The 27-year-old Rasool, who has played in the Indian Premier League besides representing the national team in Zimbabwe in 2013, left the state's young cricketers who thronged the Bajalta play field here for first Maruti Suzuki Nagrota Premier League, motivated with his presence.
     On the eighth day of the tournament, which was declared open by National Conference President and former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, the off-spinning allrounder arrived at the pitch to huge applause.
     He spoke about the importance of T20 cricket in the present day.
     "This will place you in good stead to play at the state and the national level," he said.
     Sharing his 

Rasool talks about importance of net practice

India today thrashed Sri Lanka by nine wickets in the deciding
third and final Twenty20
International to pocket the series 2-1, here today.
     Brief Scores:
     Sri Lanka: 82 all out in 18 overs (Dasun Shanaka 19; Ravichandran Ashwin 4/8).
     India: 84 for one wicket in 13.5 overs (Shikhar Dhawan 46 not out, Ajinkya Rahane 22 not out; Dushmantha Chameera 1/14).

India beat Sri Lanka by 9 wickets, pocket series 2-1

Odafe Okolie scored twice from the penalty spot to guide Sporting Clube de Goa to their first win at home as they rallied to beat Mumbai FC 3-2 in the Hero I-League here today.
     Sushil Singh (17th and 57th minute) scored a couple of goals for the visitors but Nicholas Fernandes (24th) and two penalties from skipper Odafa (74th and 86th) helped the Goan outfit climb to the fourth position with 11 points in their kitty.
     Sporting Goa coach Mateus Costa made four changes to the team including Dharmaraj Ravanan, Mehrajuddin Wadoo, Marcus Mascarenhas and Ganesh Thakur in the starting XI.
     On the other hand, Khalid Jamil named an unchanged line-up with Taisuke Matsugae not travelling with the squad due to an injury.
     After a period of brief dominance by Sporting it were the visitors who opened the scoring through Sushil Singh from a corner-kick in the 17th minute.
     Sporting responded soon after when Odafa received the ball from a throw-in and wriggled past a few ...

Odafe strikes twice to guide Sporting

The Indian men and women's teams today entered the finals of the handball event at the 12th South Asian Games with comfortable victories over their respective opponents here.
     In the men's section, India outplayed Nepal 51-23 in the semifinals to set up a summit clash with Pakistan tomorrow.
     Pakistan beat Bangladesh 46-24 in the other semifinals at the Lakshmibai National Institute of Physical Education, North East Regional Center at Sonapur.
     In the women's section, India thrashed Pakistan 44-23 in the semifinals to set up a summit clash against Bangladesh tomorrow.
     Bangladesh beat Nepal 33-28 in the other semifinals.

India in finals of handball men and women

Scoreboard of the third and
final T20 International between India and Sri Lanka here today.
     Sri Lanka:
     Dickwella	st Dhoni b Ashwin 1
     Dilshan lbw b Ashwin 1
     Chandimal c Pandya b Ashwin 8
     Gunaratne	c Raina b Ashwin 4
     Siriwardana b Nehra 4
     Shanaka b Jadeja 19
     Prasanna	run out 9
     Perera c Jadeja b Raina	12
     Senanayake c Dhoni b Raina 8
     Chameera	not out 9
     Fernando	b Bumrah 1
     Extras: (LB-2, W-3, NB-1) 6
     Total: 82 all out in 18 overs
     Fall of wickets: 1-2, 2-3, 3-12, 4-20, 5-21, 6-48, 7-54, 8-72, 9-73
     Bowling: Ashwin 4-1-8-4, Nehra 2-0-17-1, Bumrah 3-0-10-1, Jadeja 4-1-11-1, Yuvraj 1-0-15-0, Pandya 2-0-13-0, Raina 2-0-6-2.

 Scoreboard of the third and

Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin bamboozled the Sri Lankan batsmen in a mesmerising opening spell as India bundled out the visitors for a paltry 82 in the series deciding third and final Twenty20 International cricket match, here today.
     Ashwin, who opened the attack for India, took four wickets in a magical three-over opening spell to break the back of the Sri Lankan batting order.
     The off-spinner was simply unplayable for the Lankans as he returned with exceptional figures of 4-1-8-4, his career best figures in T20 cricket.
     Sri Lanka could not even bat full 20 overs and were all out for their lowest total in Twenty20 cricket in 18 overs.
     Suresh Raina also shone on a helpful ACA-VDCA stadium pitch by scalping two batsmen and giving away just six runs in his two overs.
     After opting to field, India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni handed out the new ball to Ashwin and he responded with two wickets in the first over of the match.
     Ashwin had Niroshan Dickwella (1) 

Ashwin weaves spin magic, India bundle out Lanka for 82

Indian men's and women's teams entered the finals of the kabaddi event at the 12th South Asian Games with easy victories over their respective opponents here today.
     The men's team, defending its title, outplayed Bangladesh 29-9 in the semifinals to make it to the final of the event at the R G Baruah Sports Complex.
     The Bangladeshis could not match the technical superiority of the Indians who led 15-3 at the half time.
     The Indians effected two 'lonas' (two bonus points when entire opposition is out) to completely dominate the match against the hapless Bangladeshis.
     The Bangladeshis did a bit better in the second half as they got six points as against three in the first 20 minutes. But the Indians maintained the momentum to walk away with the match 29-9.
     India got 20 outs, five bonus points and four lona points in the match.
     In the women's section also, defending champions India thrashed Nepal 45-15 in the semifinals to set up a summit clash against ...

India in men's and women's kabaddi finals

Electing to bowl, India bundled out Sri Lanka for a paltry 82 in the series deciding third and final Twenty20 International, here today.
     Brief Scores:
     Sri Lanka: 82 all out in 18 overs (Dasun Shanaka 19; Ravichandran Ashwin 4/8).

India bowl out Sri Lanka for 82

Indian tennis star Sania Mirza and her Swiss partner Martina Hingis triumphed in the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy to extend their winning streak to 40 matches, here today.
     The top seeded Indo-Swiss pair registered a comfortable 6-3 6-1 victory over the Russian-Czech team of Vera Dushevina and Barbora Krejcikova in the women's doubles final that lasted for an hour.
     This is the fourth title that Sania and Hingis have won this year. Their overall trophy count stands at 13. They started the year with wins in Brisbane and Sydney before completing a hat-trick of Grand Slam titles at the Australian Open.

Sania-Hingis stretch winning run to 40 after another triumph

London Olympics bronze-medallist M C Mary Kom led the charge as six Indian boxers stormed into the final with comprehensive wins to remain in hunt for all the 10 medals on offer at the 12th South Asian Games here today.
     On a comeback trail after recovering from an injury, the five-time world champion Mary Kom's 51kg category bout lasted less than 40 seconds as she was adjudged winner via Technical Knockout.
     After Mary landed some powerful blows her Bangladeshi opponent Shamina Akter rarely stepped forward and had a full crouch stance all the while trying to cover-up at the SAI campus in North Eastern Hill University on the outskirts of the city.
     Sri Lanka's first woman boxer to win a gold in Asian Championship, Anusha Kodituwakku Dilrukshi, will stand in the way of the celebrated Indian boxer for the gold medal women's final Tuesday.
     Anusha had little trouble getting past her Nepalese opponent Gurung Minu as she was adjudged 3-0 winner by the three judges.
     If .

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