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/ 7 November 2006
The International Cricket Council has paved the way for securing a billion-dollar marketing deal after ending a dispute with its commercial powerhouse India. The board of control for cricket in India not only agreed to sign up with the ICC for major events for the next eight years but also withdrew a controversial move to bid for the sport’s global TV and marketing rights.
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/ 5 November 2006
Zimbabwe will return to Test cricket in November 2007, almost two years after they volunteered to withdraw from tests because they were not competitive. Zimbabwe coach Kevin Curran announced in September the team will be ready in November next year, and that is ”realistic”, International Cricket Council president Percy Sonn said on Saturday.
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/ 4 November 2006
Captain Ricky Ponting emerged as the star of the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) awards ceremony on Friday as Australia dominated by claiming four prizes. Ponting was adjudged the year’s best player and the most outstanding Test cricketer of the season.
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/ 3 November 2006
Indian authorities want to stop the daytime airing of a television advertisement promoting flavoured condoms saying it is obscene and in bad taste, a newspaper reported on Friday. The advert promotes DKT’s ”XXX” strawberry, chocolate and banana flavoured condoms with the catchline ”What is your flavour of the night?”.
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/ 2 November 2006
Chris Gayle smashed 133 not out to power holders West Indies into their third Champions Trophy final with a six-wicket victory over South Africa on Thursday. The 27-year-old Jamaican stroked his third hundred of the tournament after a 154-run opening partnership with fellow left-hander Shivnarine Chanderpaul to guide West Indies to 262-4 in 44 overs in reply to South Africa’s 258-8.
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/ 2 November 2006
All-rounder Andrew Symonds led Australia to their first ICC Champions Trophy final on Wednesday with a 34-run victory against a never-say-die New Zealand in the first semifinal. Symonds smashed a run-a-ball 58 in Australia’s challenging total of 240-9 off 50 overs and then took the vital wicket of Jacob Oram (43) as the world champions bowled out a fighting New Zealand for 206 in 46 overs.
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/ 1 November 2006
The glow from burning jatropha seed torches has often saved Maruti Chindu from treading on snakes, but now he carefully nurtures them for a use that he never imagined before — running cars and trucks. On the hilly grasslands of the western state of Maharashtra, near the village of Malegaon, Chindu and his tribe of about 40 men and women busily plant jatropha saplings.
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/ 1 November 2006
South Africa skipper Graeme Smith said on Wednesday adaptability would be the key to success against an unpredictable West Indies in the Champions Trophy semifinal. ”The unpredictable nature can count against them, but it can also be a major bonus for them. The key for us is to adapt to the conditions better than the other team,” Smith said ahead of Thursday’s match.
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/ 31 October 2006
South Africa go into the ICC Champions Trophy semifinal on Thursday hoping their batting line-up will back up their fast bowlers against a resurgent West Indies. Fast bowlers spared South African blushes in the last two games against Sri Lanka and Pakistan, with Makhaya Ntini and Shaun Pollock playing key roles in their team’s wins.
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/ 31 October 2006
Australia captain Ricky Ponting has urged his team to go flat out to make their first Champions Trophy final when they clash with New Zealand in Wednesday’s semifinal. ”There are no excuses now for us,” Ponting said ahead of the day-night clash against their trans-Tasman rivals at the Punjab Cricket Association stadium.
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/ 31 October 2006
India’s dashing middle-order batsman, Yuvraj Singh, has been ruled out of next month’s one-day series in South Africa, the cricket board said on Tuesday. Yuvraj suffered a tear in his left knee during a warm-up ahead of Sunday’s Champions Trophy clash against Australia and was rushed to Mumbai to see the board’s medical consultant, Anant Joshi.
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/ 30 October 2006
Veterans Anil Kumble and Zaheer Khan were on Monday recalled to the under-performing Indian team for five one-day internationals in South Africa next month. Leg-spinner Kumble (36) has not been considered for limited-overs cricket since August, 2005, despite being the most successful Indian bowler in both forms of the game with 533 Test and 329 one-day wickets.
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/ 30 October 2006
West Indies player Dwayne Bravo was on Sunday found not guilty of breaching the ICC Code of Conduct after his controversial catch in the Champions Trophy match against England. Bravo was charged with failing to ”conduct play within the spirit of the game,” after his running catch to dismiss Michael Yardy on Saturday.
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/ 29 October 2006
A sparkling unbeaten 90 by Kevin Pietersen led England to a thrilling three-wicket victory over holders West Indies in their final Champions Trophy Group A match on Saturday. Pietersen helped England chase down a difficult target under lights, finishing on 276 for seven with nine balls remaining to record their first win of a disappointing tournament.
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/ 29 October 2006
Australian skipper Ricky Ponting praised his team’s complete display and said the six-wicket Champions Trophy victory over hosts India on Sunday had been ”reasonably easy”. ”It was a pretty complete game for us,” Ponting told reporters. ”To lose the toss on that wicket and to get to the total was great.
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/ 27 October 2006
Makhaya Ntini grabbed 5-21 as South Africa conjured a great escape to advance to the Champions Trophy semifinals with a dramatic 124-run win over Pakistan on Friday. The Proteas recovered from a disastrous 42-5 within the first hour to post 213-8 before Pakistan were themselves reduced to 27-6 and bowled out for 89 in the eventful day-night international.
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/ 27 October 2006
Shivnarine Chanderpaul hit a solid 51 to build on Ian Bradshaw’s superb effort as the West Indies qualified for the Champions Trophy semifinals with a tense three-wicket victory over India on Thursday. Left-arm fast bowler Bradshaw carved out a rosy opening for his team when he grabbed three big wickets in his disciplined 10 overs to restrict India to a modest total of 223-9 in the Group A league match.
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/ 26 October 2006
Confident South Africa clash with mercurial Pakistan in an explosive Champions Trophy match on Friday that will take the winner into the semifinals and send the loser home. New Zealand’s win over Pakistan on Wednesday night gave Stephen Fleming’s Black Caps one of the two semifinal berths from Group B, leaving South Africa and Pakistan to scrap for the other spot.
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/ 25 October 2006
The International Cricket Council (ICC) used a chemical spray to reduce the impact of dew on Wednesday’s Champions Trophy match between Pakistan and New Zealand, saying it was in the interests of a fair contest. Excessive dew late in the evening often tilts the balance in favour of teams batting second in day-night matches.
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/ 24 October 2006
Shaun Pollock took two early wickets as he set up South Africa’s 78-run victory over Sri Lanka in a low-scoring Champions Trophy Group B match on Tuesday. Pollock dismissed Sanath Jayasuriya for three and Kumar Sangakkara for nought. He then ran out skipper Mahela Jayawardene for 36 as Sri Lanka were reduced to 78-5 before being bowled out for 141 in 39.1 overs while chasing 220.
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/ 23 October 2006
South Africa captain Graeme Smith has asked his top-order batsmen to adapt quickly to spin-friendly conditions in Tuesday’s crucial Champions Trophy Group B match against Sri Lanka. South Africa, second in the ICC one-day rankings, lost to New Zealand in their opening match on a tricky Brabourne Stadium pitch in Mumbai.
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/ 23 October 2006
Former England captain Geoffrey Boycott has called for Duncan Fletcher to be axed as coach following the side’s comprehensive defeat to Australia in a Champions Trophy group match on Saturday. ”If you talk to people like John Wright and Bob Woolmer, successful coaches with a lot of experience, they will tell you that the job comes with a shelf-life,” Boycott wrote in Monday’s Daily Telegraph.
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/ 18 October 2006
Abdul Razzaq put in a superb all-round show as doping-hit Pakistan turned the formbook upside down with a four-wicket win over Sri Lanka in a Champions Trophy match on Tuesday. Pakistan did a commendable job when they restricted Sri Lanka to 253 despite missing key pacemen Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif, who returned home on Monday after failing dope tests.
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/ 16 October 2006
New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming led from the front as the Black Caps snatched a dramatic 87-run victory over South Africa in the Champions Trophy on Monday. New Zealand, bowled out for 195 after being given first strike in the day-night international, fought back to dismiss the powerful Proteas for 108 in the most absorbing match of the tournament so far.
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/ 16 October 2006
England captain Andrew Flintoff was pleased with the way his team fought back in a low-scoring four-wicket loss against India in the opening Group A limited-overs international of the ICC Champions Trophy on Sunday. ”I am pleased with the character we showed,” said Flintoff, who returned to lead the England side after spending six months on the sidelines due to an ankle surgery.
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/ 16 October 2006
Niger is keen to import Indian rice milling machines — and get advice on how to drill for oil. South Africa welcomes Indian investment to build hotels ahead of the 2010 World Cup. And Ethiopia wants help from India for its highway projects. African countries are increasingly looking to India, as well as China, for help developing their economies — moves that could shape the future of global trade flows.
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/ 15 October 2006
Indian police have made little headway in a probe into a 2000 cricket match-fixing scam due a problem in translating taped conversations in Afrikaans, a report said on Sunday. In 2000, police in New Delhi had filed a case against Proteas cricketers, including then captain Hansie Cronje, and middlemen for allegedly accepting money to influence the outcome of matches.
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/ 13 October 2006
South Africa batsman Herschelle Gibbs turned his attention to cricket on Friday, a day after being interrogated by Indian police in a six-year-old match-fixing case. The 32-year-old explosive batsman was playing in a warm-up match against a Mumbai team, three days before South Africa open their Champions Trophy campaign against New Zealand.
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/ 12 October 2006
South African Herschelle Gibbs revealed on Thursday the names of three former Proteas cricketers involved in a match-fixing scam, said Indian police who now want to question the trio. One of the three was Derek Crookes, who toured India with the South African squad in 2000 and played 32 one-day matches making 1Â 001 runs. Police declined to identify the other two.
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/ 12 October 2006
South African Herschelle Gibbs revealed on Thursday the names of three former Proteas cricketers involved in a match-fixing scam, said Indian police who now want to question the trio. One of the three was Derek Crookes who toured India with the South African squad in 2000 and played 32 one-day matches making 1 001 runs. Police declined to identify the other two.
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/ 12 October 2006
Chris Gayle smashed an attractive century as the West Indies stormed into the Champions Trophy main draw with a 10-wicket win over hapless Bangladesh in a qualifying match on Wednesday. The left-hander hit an unbeaten 104 for his 13th century and Shivnarine Chanderpaul made 52 not out as Brian Lara’s team made a mockery of Bangladesh’s total of 161, winning with 13.2 overs to spare.
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/ 12 October 2006
South Africa skipper Graeme Smith said England’s success in their Ashes defence starting in Australia next month will depend on how they cope with the aggressive home crowds. The SA team complained racial taunts during their tour of Australia at the turn of the year that prompted the International Cricket Council to introduce a new code of conduct on racism and strict measures for spectators.