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/ 17 January 2008
Australia’s bid to break their own world record for consecutive Test wins was on shaky ground on Thursday after their batting collapsed on a dramatic second day of the third Test against India in Perth. India bowled the Australians out for 212 in 50 overs and then added 52 runs for the loss of one wicket, reaching stumps with an overall lead of 170.
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/ 16 January 2008
India’s master batsmen Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid made half-centuries before Australia fought back with a flurry of wickets on an absorbing opening day of the third Test on Wednesday. Dravid top scored with 93 while Tendulkar made 71 after steering the tourists out of trouble early on to reach stumps on 297-6 in their first innings.
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/ 15 January 2008
India are poised to recall Virender Sehwag for the third Test against Australia starting at the Waca on Wednesday as the tourists look to keep the series alive. The dashing opener pushed his claim with a century in the tour match in Canberra at the weekend and captain Anil Kumble said he was almost certain to be picked.
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/ 14 January 2008
Australia will hope to put the acrimony of recent days behind them as they chase a world record 17th straight Test win against India this week. Batsman Michael Clarke said the home team were ”keen as mustard” to get back on the field after the fall-out of the second Test in Sydney.
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/ 12 January 2008
Australian coach Tim Nielsen said one of the biggest issues facing his side as it prepared for the third Test against India at the Waca Ground was confronting the bitter fall-out from the controversial second Test in Sydney. The Australians have been subjected to accusations of poor sportsmanship, following their 122-run win over the Indians.
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/ 24 October 2007
An Australian barmaid who entertained patrons by crushing beer cans between her bare breasts and hanging spoons off her nipples has been fined, police said on Wednesday. Luana De Faveri (31) was fined Aus$1 000 in the Mandurah Magistrate’s Court in Western Australia after pleading guilty to two breaches of the Liquor Control Act.
The return of brilliant winger Lote Tuqiri heads a comprehensive list of changes for Australia ahead of their rugby Test against Fiji on Saturday. As he searches for his best World Cup and Tri-Nations combination, Wallabies coach Jon Connolly retained just five of his starting 15 from their 31-0 win over Wales last Saturday.
The Auckland Blues booked their place in the semifinals of the Super 14 rugby competition when they beat the Western Force 33-6 on Friday. Despite being early pace-setters this season, three consecutive losses had put the Blues’ semifinal chances in jeopardy.
The Western Force kept their slim Super 14 finals hopes alive with record 45-17 thrashing of the Central Cheetahs at Subiaco Oval in Perth on Friday. The Force, needing a bonus-point win to remain mathematically capable of reaching the play-offs in their second season, delivered with a six-try spree that took them to their highest score yet in the competition.
The Western Force notched a club-record third straight victory with a gritty 22-12 Super 14 win over the often undisciplined Coastal Sharks at Subiaco Oval in Perth on Friday. The result in front of a noisy crowd of 28Â 400 kept the Force right in the hunt for a finals berth in just their second season in the competition and confirmed their status as the leading Australian contender.
Cameron Shepherd scored a try and kicked three conversions and four penalty goals for a personal total of 23 points as the Western Force beat the Queensland Reds 38-3 in a Super 14 rugby match on Friday. The win was the second in a row at home for the Force, who did not have a win at Subiaco Oval before last week’s 18-17 victory over the Wellington Hurricanes.
A second tropical cyclone menacing Australia’s north-west coast was downgraded Sunday as the prime minister offered to send troops to help clean up damage from last week’s storm. Residents have been scrambling to clean up the rubble left by Cyclone George, which slammed into Australia’s remote Pilbara region on Thursday, killing two people and injuring about 20 others.
At least two people were killed on Friday when a cyclone slammed into Australia’s north-west coast, paralysing mining operations and leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. Authorities feared category-four Cyclone George had also claimed a third life and caused numerous serious injuries, but said they were struggling to reach remote communities lashed by winds of 275km/h.
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/ 25 February 2007
Andre Pretorius landed a last-minute penalty goal as the Lions edged the Western Force 25-24 in a Super 14 rugby match on Saturday to collect their first win in Australia. The Force, established in Perth last year, lost by a point at Subiaco for the second time this season and are yet to register a win at home.
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/ 2 February 2007
The plucky Otago Highlanders clung to a one-point lead for the entire second half to upset the Western Force 8-7 in the Super 14 match at Subiaco Oval in Perth Friday. The Western Force were expected to be one of the big improvers in their second season in the competition, but they had no answer to the tough defence of the determined Highlanders.
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/ 31 January 2007
Blistering batting has propelled New Zealand to the brink of the finals of the triangular one-day series — now they have their sights set on upsetting the unbeaten Australians. The Black Caps appear certain to face the home side in the tri-series finals after their 58-run win over a besieged England at Perth’s Waca ground on Tuesday.
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/ 31 January 2007
England’s lack of cohesion was in the spotlight again on Wednesday after wicketkeeper Paul Nixon took aim at captain Andrew Flintoff’s claims about their fielding in Australia. Nixon also contradicted coach Duncan Fletcher’s assertion that the players had been training too hard, underlining the disarray in the England side during their calamitous tour down under.
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/ 29 January 2007
England are again set to be without three of their key players for the crunch triangular one-day series clash with New Zealand on Tuesday. Defeat will almost certainly end England’s hopes of reaching the tri-series finals to cap a disastrous tour, and they look to be missing captain Michael Vaughan as well as opening bowlers James Anderson and Jon Lewis.
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/ 28 January 2007
Centuries by Ricky Ponting and Matthew Hayden helped Australia maintain their winning streak with an unexpectedly narrow eight-run victory over a plucky New Zealand in their triangular series one-day international in Perth on Sunday. Ponting won the toss and elected to bat in extremely hot conditions. His decision was vindicated as Australia capitalised on New Zealand fielding errors.
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/ 28 January 2007
England captain Michael Vaughan says his side urgently need to find a way to heal some of the mental scars inflicted during their horrific Australian tour. Vaughan, who is himself sidelined as he continues to battle to overcome a hamstring strain, said the self-doubt permeating the team was ”cancerous” and a real threat to England’s hopes in the upcoming World Cup.
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/ 27 January 2007
England batsman Ian Bell says his side hit rock bottom in their embarrassing nine-wicket loss to Australia in the latest one-day international in Adelaide. They were routed on Friday for just 110 by Australia in 34.3 overs and Bell, who top-scored with 35, said the loss was even more disappointing than their Ashes failures earlier in the tour.
Russia raced to their first Hopman Cup title after singles wins for Nadia Petrova and Dmitry Tursunov gave them an unassailable 2-0 lead over Spain in the final on Friday. World number six Petrova gave the top seeds the momentum with a 6-0 6-4 demolition of Anabel Medina Garrigues before Tursunov sealed the tie with a 6-4 7-5 victory over world number seven Tommy Robredo.
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/ 18 December 2006
Australia defeated England by 206 runs to win the third Test at the Waca and regain the Ashes after taking an unbeatable 3-0 lead in the five-match series on Monday. Australia wrapped up victory on the second ball after lunch on the final day when Shane Warne bowled Monty Panesar for one as England collapsed to be all out for 350 after resuming on 265 for five.
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/ 16 December 2006
Australia were on the verge of regaining the Ashes after their batsmen, led by a devastating Adam Gilchrist, smashed England all over the park on day three of the third Test at an oppressively hot Western Australia Cricket Association ground in Perth on Saturday. The Australians declared late in the day at 527 for five.
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/ 15 December 2006
Ricky Ponting and Matthew Hayden scored half-centuries to help Australia seize control of the third Ashes Test against England in Perth on Friday. Ponting continued his insatiable run-feast with an unbeaten 57 and Hayden posted his best score of the series to reach the close on day two, also on 57 not out, with Australia on 119-2 in their second innings, 148 runs ahead.
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/ 14 December 2006
Monty Panesar captured five wickets on his Ashes debut to help England bowl out Australia for 244 before struggling to 51-2 on the opening day of the third Test on Thursday. The left-arm spinner claimed the scalps of Justin Langer, Andrew Symonds, Adam Gilchrist, Shane Warne and Brett Lee to finish with figures of 5-92.
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/ 12 December 2006
The forecast of a spin-friendly Western Australian Cricket Association (Waca) wicket could see champion Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne become the first bowler to claim 700 Test wickets during the third Ashes Test. After his fifth day heroics in Adelaide, Warne is poised on 694 Test wickets.
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/ 11 December 2006
Australia all-rounder Andrew Symonds knows he has just about run out of chances at Test level, but he won’t be putting undue pressure on himself to perform should he get the nod for the third Ashes Test against England at the Waca ground, starting on Thursday.
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/ 10 December 2006
Michael Vaughan has conceded he has no chance of making an unlikely Ashes comeback down under. Talk of the 2005 Ashes hero, who is on the comeback trail after knee surgery earlier in the year, returning late in the current Ashes series gathered momentum when he played in two one-day matches for the England Academy in Perth last week.
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/ 7 December 2006
Much-vaunted England spinner Monty Panesar says he is ready to produce if given an Ashes call-up, despite a lack of match practice on the tour. The left-arm finger spinner was a frustrated onlooker for the first two Tests, with England selectors preferring Ashley Giles’s extra experience and superior batting ability.
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/ 27 November 2006
South Africa won the Surf Ski World Cup in Perth in emphatic style this weekend, headed by back-to-back victories in both legs of the event by 43-year-old Durban ace Oscar Chalupsky, who romped home to win the 30km second-leg event from Rottnest Island to Hillary Harbour outside Perth on Sunday.
The Western Force led for most of the match and had a late try disallowed to draw with the first-place Canterbury Crusaders 23-23 in a Super 14 rugby match on Friday. Playing the final home game of their inaugural season before 30 000 spectators at Subiaco Oval, the Force had a try by Haig Sare disallowed with three minutes left.