KOLKATA: Gautam Gambhir notched up his seventh century while Virat Kohli struck his maiden to script India's series-clinching seven-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the fourth ODI on Thursday.
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Chasing 316 to win the tie and seal the series with one match to go, India found themselves in the morass at 23 for two before Gambhir (150 not out) starred in an 224-run stand with Virat Kohli (107) to inject fresh life into the chase and then completed the formality in Dinesh Karthik's (19 not out) company.
The wobbly start notwithstanding, it was a clinical chase by the Indians who cruised to 317 for three in 48.1 overs to go 3-1 up in the five-match series.
Gambhir, who became the newest member of the 3000-run club, faced 137 balls in his controlled innings, hitting 14 fours in the process.
Kohli's mature 114-ball knock was studded with 11 fours and a six.
Earlier, Upul Tharanga (118) hit his seventh ODI century and starred in a 126-run partnership with captain Kumar Sangakkara (60) as Sri Lanka posted 315 for six, the highest score at the venue till India overwhelmed it.
After Tharanga and Sangakkara had laid the perfect platform for a late charge, debutant Thissara Perera hit a 14-ball 31 to make the most of the batting powerplay and help the visitors cross the 300-mark.
Both the teams now move to Delhi for the fifth and final ODI on Sunday.
India's chase got off to a wobbly start and the Eden Gardens crowd watched in horror as the home side lost both their openers inside four overs with Suranga Lakmal, playing only his second ODI, being the party-pooper.
Stand-in skipper Virender Sewag (10) had begun with a bang, sending the first ball of the innings from Perera to the rope, a treatment he repeated four balls later.
Lakmal, however, had other ideas and his fourth delivery took an edge off Sehwag's blade and nestled into point fielder Tillakaratne Dilshan's safe palms.
In his next over, Lakmal induced Sachin Tendulkar (8) for a doomed cut and Suraj Randiv sent groans across the stadium when he took the catch at cover point.
Their team in dire strait, Kohli and Gambhir showed tremendous maturity as they rebuilt the innings, brick by brick, with some sensible cricket.
For someone who owes his place in the side to Yuvraj Singh's finger injury, Kohli asserted himself with four successive boundaries off Lasith Malinga's first over.
Subsequent overs were not equally rewarding but both ran hard to maintain the run rate.
Kohli fell soon after his century but by then, India had the match in the bag.
Earlier, the 126-run stand between Tharanga and Sangakkara was the cornerstone of the Sri Lankan innings and the late charge was provided by Thissara Perera.
Just when the Lankan innings was getting over, the floodlights near the giant scorecard went off, delaying the proceedings for about 23 minutes, much to the embarrassment of the organisers.
Dropped on seven by Ashish Nehra off his own bowling, Tharanga went on to hit 118 from 128 balls with 14 boundaries and two sixes.
With hard-hitting opener Tillakaratne Dilshan (9) and Sanath Jayasuriya (15) coming a cropper, Tharanga and Sangakkara did the bulk of Lankan scoring during their 142-ball stand.
Sangakkara made 60 from 72 balls before he was stumped off the bowling of Harbhajan.
After Sangakkara won the toss and decided to set a target, home side bowlers Nehra and Zaheer Khan started off beautifully, restraining the destructive opening duo of Dilshan and Tharanga.
In fact, Nehra started off with a maiden over -- India's first in the ongoing five-match series.
The Lankans had a rather sluggish start with just nine coming from the first five overs but soon Tharanga began to open up after he was given a life.
He was at his explosive best when he smashed five boundaries in the first over of Ishant Sharma, who came in as one-change after Nehra had given the breakthrough by taking the prized scalp of Dilshan.
A superb catch by Virat Kohli at long leg brought the end of Dilshan as Sri Lanka lost their first wicket for 31 after eight overs.
Back in the side, Jayasuriya looked in fine nick in his run-a-ball 15 before he edged Zaheer in the first slip.
At 72 for two, Sri Lanka almost lost another wicket but Harbhajan dropped Sangakkara on zero and the Lankan skipper went on to play a supporting role to centurion Tharanga. The left-handed duo played some sensible cricket with Tharanga playing the role of an aggressor.
Tharanga notched up his seventh ODI century from 102 balls and Perera's late cameo then lifted the Lankan totals past the 300-mark.
Zaheer and Nehra took two wickets each with the former being the best Indian bowler of the day.
KOLKATA: Elated after guiding India to a facile, series-clinching win, star batsman Gautam Gambhir said he would rate the unbeaten 150 against Sri Lanka as the best innings of his career.
Gambhir said it was very satisfying to stay till the end and guide the team to victory.
"This is the first time I finished a game remaining unbeaten. It feels great," Gambhir said in the post-match conference.
"It was important for me to get going and convert it into a big one. It feels great that I finished the game," Gambhir, who was adjudged Man of the Match, said.
It was a brilliantly paced innings by the left-hander who added 224 runs with Virat Kohli (107) for the third wicket to put India's chase back on track.
Explaining his early caution, Gambhir said, "While chasing it's always important to have wickets in hand. When you have wickets in hand, it's always easy to chase down about 130 in the last 15 overs."
India's win came without regular skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who is serving a two-match ban, and star batsman Yuvraj Singh, who is nursing an injured finger.
Gambhir said the victory was made possible by the team's impressive bench strength.
"We have enough guys in the bench who can prove themselves even in the absence of great players like Dhoni and Yuvraj," he said.
BERLIN: Seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher said he was gunning for an eighth title in his comeback to Formula One racing with Mercedes GP from next season, in an interview published on Thursday.
"Obviously our only goal can be to fight for the world championship," Schumacher told the Berlin daily Der Tagesspiegel.
"And of course my goal can only be to again stand on the top step."
Schumacher retired in October 2006 and suffered a neck injury in a motorbike accident in February but the German pilot, who will be 41 on January 3, said had "no doubt" about his skills behind the wheel.
"I never stopped my physical training," he said.
Schumacher signed a three-year deal on Wednesday to return to F1 racing with Mercedes GP for a reported seven million euros ($9.9 million) per year.
He will be linking up with Mercedes's team principal Ross Brawn, who was the brains behind all of his world titles, and on the grid when the new season starts with the Bahrain Grand Prix on March 14.
The German said Mercedes was the natural choice for him.
"I think there is no other team for which I would have seriously considered driving," he said.
"It was the combination of Ross Brawn and Mercedes. Mercedes helped me get into Formula One. I am happy that I can give back some of what Mercedes gave me."
Schumacher was 37 when he hung up his racing helmet having competed in 250 Formula One Grands Prix, 180 of them for Ferrari.
He won 91 races, 71 for Ferrari, took 68 pole positions, 58 for Ferrari, and set 75 fastest laps on his way to seven drivers' world titles, including five for the scarlet scuderia.
Schumacher retired having just fallen short of Italian Ricardo Patrese's record of lining up in 256 races.
He had been due to make a remarkable return last season for Ferrari - for whom he acted as a consultant after retiring - as a replacement for the injured Felipe Massa.
But he was unable to race due to persistent neck pain from the February crash.
KOLKATA: Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara made a blunder by opting to bat first in the fourth ODI only to see his bowlers struggling to grip a wet ball, according to India's stand-in skipper Virender Sehwag.
Elated after leading the team to the series win with one match to spare, Sehwag said he knew dew would be a factor at the Eden Gardens at this time of the year.
"We knew dew would be a factor here in this weather. Even if I had won the toss, we would have fielded.
"It (Sangakkara's decision) was good for my spinners who could grip the ball when it was dry and operate," Sehwag said.
Man of the Match Gautam Gambhir, whose unbeaten 150 was the cornerstone of India's chase, also felt Sangakkara erred in his judgement.
"We knew the dew would be a big factor. Even when we last played here, Graeme Smith got a hundred and it was hard for the bowlers to grip the ball.
"The same happened with the Sri Lankan bowlers today," observed Gambhir, architect of India's series-clinching seven-wicket win.
Sangakkara, however, placed the blame on his pacers, saying they erred in their line and length.
"(Suranga) Lakmal and (Suraj) Randiv bowled well but there wasn't enough back-up. Maybe it was little difficult for spinners like Sanath (Jayasuriya) and (Tillakaratne) Dilshan but I think our pacers bowled either too short or too full on either side of the wicket. The fast bowlers should have been more disciplined," Sangakkara said.
Sehwag was effusive in his praise for Gambhir and Kohli who stitched together a 224-run stand in just 214 balls.
"I didn't think 315 was a huge total, considering the line-up we have. It was just a matter of good start but today neither me nor Sachin (Tendulkar) could give the team a decent start.
"But all credits goes to Gambhir and Kohli, the way they batted. Kohli has done really well in the opportunities he got. He got fifties in the Champions Trophy and against Sri Lanka. We all knew he had the talent and it was just a matter of performing at the international level," Sehwag said.
Leading the side in absence of regular skipper MS Dhoni, who is serving a two-match ban, Sehwag impressed with his innovative field setting but the Delhi player was also candid enough to acknowledge Tendulkar's input that helped them curb Dilshan on Thursday.
"The credit goes to Sachin Tendulkar. He told me to get the bowlers bowl on his legs," Sehwag said.
Like Sehwag, Gambhir too was generous with his praise for Kohli, whom he handed over the Man of the Match award.
"It was important to build a partnership after losing those early two wickets. In Kohli, we had someone who could play positively and score quickly. That took pressure off my shoulder and I could take my time and keep going," Gambhir said.
"I knew if we have enough wickets in hand, any target is possible after 40 overs. I thought we can wait till third Powerplay and take it from there," said Gambhir who completed 3000 ODI runs today.
Looking back, the left-hander said he was happy to get a century at Eden Gardens after failing to convert a good many starts.
"I've been pretty unfortunate in the last two innings but I am happy that I played a good knock to help us win the series. And it's fantastic to get a hundred in Eden Gardens," said Gambhir.
NEW DELHI: Nehru Cup and SAFF Championships triumphs, a new man at the helm of the national body after two decades and an unprecedented expulsion of the country's iconic captain Bhaichung Bhutia by his club marked an eventful year in Indian football.
The highlight of Indian football was undoubtedly the retaining of Nehru Cup International title after beating 2007 runners-up Syria via tie-breaker in the final in New Delhi in August.
India, who have qualified for the 2011 AFC Asian Cup in Doha after winning the AFC Challenge Cup last year, lost to Lebanon and Syria in round-robin league matches but emerged winner in the final in front of a packed gallery at the Ambedkar Stadium.
The victory prompted Bhutia to assert that Asia's top countries would now find India a difficult team to beat. His coach Bob Houghton went a step further by declaring that with good crowd support his side can beat the top Asian countries except Australia at the Ambedkar Stadium.
The tournament also saw Bhutia becoming the first Indian, 37th Asian and 152nd international footballer to have played more than 100 matches for his country when he led the side in a league match against Kyrgyzstan.
But before that tournament, in June, he was suspended by his club Mohun Bagan for six months for missing an exhibition match and skipping team training. He later signed a contract with East Bengal though he had one more year with Mohun Bagan.
An arbitrator appointed by the All India Football Federation granted his interim relief after a bitter legal battle, allowing him to play for a club of his choice till a final decision is passed.
Towards the end of the year, India Under-23 boys, under wily coach Sukhwinder Singh, did the country proud by winning the SAFF Championships after beating Maldives in the final in Dhaka, a feat their senior side under Bhutia failed to do in 2008.
Bhutia and Co. lost to Maldives 0-1 in the final in the last edition final in Colombo.
The year also saw long serving senior vice-president Praful Patel taking over as AIFF president, replacing ailing Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi who had been at the helm of affairs since 1988. Dasmunshi is in a comma in a Delhi hospital since October last year.
Patel immediately brought Rs 25 crore as grant from the cash-rich Indian Cricket Board using his proximity with his National Congress Party boss and former BCCI chief Sharad Pawar.
Patel's colleague, general secretary Alberto Colaco, however, chose to cling onto the office despite his repeated claims that he wants to quit the job.
Colaco, who took office in December 2000 as AIFF's first paid general secretary, was given extension of contract till the end of this year and the national body did not even bother to interview the candidates who had applied for the post responding to a public advertisement.
The AIFF had to drop its ambitious 'Goal 2011' project due to lack of financial resources and some clubs opposing it.
Under this plan, which was expected to cost the AIFF Rs 400 million, 25-27 players would be barred from playing any domestic tournament for two seasons to prepare for the Asian Cup in January 2011.
Meanwhile, lack of international matches remained the sour point of Indian football and its outcome was that India, which began the year on 142nd in FIFA rankings, ended it at the same place.
Apart from Nehru Cup, they played just one international friendly -- against Hong Kong -- in January and lost 1-2.
An ambitious football academy to be set up in Goa in collaboration with telecom giants Bharti Airtel, which had earmarked Rs 100 crore for the proposed state-of-the-art centre, was abandoned after a land dispute.
Haryana showed interest to set up the academy in Gurgaon which was to acquire technical assistance from Manchester United but that later turned out to be just verbal ex-pression of interest and the state also apparently failed to find the required land.
The AIFF, however, took an important step in professionalising the game in the country by appointing Kolkata-based Leisure Sports Management marketing head Sunando Dhar as the I-League Chief Executive.
Houghton caught controversy after he responded to Sports Minister MS Gill's remarks that he feared the national team would be beaten by a school side of Australia and said if the Minister was really concerned of Indian football he should provide good stadia and other facilities in the country.
It was a heartbreak for India striker Sunil Chhetri as his dream of playing in England's professional league was shattered when he was first rejected by Coventry City and then failed to get the work permit to ply in United Kingdom after being selected by Queens Park Rangers.
Dempo missed the chance to play in the prestigious AFC Champions League after losing to Al Sharjah of UAE 0-3 in a play-off match early this year and their Goan rivals Churchill Brothers will now have a chance if they win the play-off on February 6 against the winner of Al Karamah of Syria and Al Wahda of UAE.
Meanwhile, India's women team was delisted from the FIFA rankings in July after failing to play a single international match for 18 months, a development which led to severe criticism of the AIFF by the former players.
In the domestic front, Churchill Brothers became the 2008-2009 season I-League champions ahead of Mohun Bagan and their star striker and captain Odafe Onyeka Okolie became the highest I-League scorer once again.
Okolie signed for Churchill for another year with a reported record sum of Rs 1 crore, the highest in Indian football history.
Goa won the Santosh Trophy National Championships held in Tamil Nadu after defeating Bengal 4-2 via tie-breaker, while the country's two other domestic tournaments -- Durand Cup and IFA Shield -- were also won by Churchill.
Towards the end of the year, AIFF temporarily suspended India and Dempo players Mahesh Gawli and Sameer Naik after their club refused to send them for national camp in Goa citing injuries.
Dempo was fined Rs 5 lakh by the AIFF Disciplinary Committee for disobeying the national body's directives though the footballers were later cleared to play.
NEW DELHI: Board of Control for Cricket in India, on Monday, shifted the second one-dayer of the five-match series between India and Sri Lanka to Nagpur after police in Visakhapatnam expressed inability to provide security for the tie in the wake of political crisis in Andhra Pradesh
Agitations are on in Andhra Pradesh over the issue of the formation of a separate Telangana state.
"The second ODI of the five-match series between India and Sri Lanka has been shifted to Nagpur. The match will be a day-night affair, and will be played on the scheduled date of 18 December 2009," BCCI secretary N Srinivasan said in a statement.
Early in the morning, Visakhapatnam Police Commissioner Sambhasiva Rao said that it will be difficult for them to provide the required security staff for the match.
"The prevailing situation is such that all the city police are deployed in the maintenance of regular law and order. To conduct the match in ordinary circumstances we need to deploy 80 percent of the city force.
"We have mentioned it to organising locals here that it not possible for us to commit any amount of force for the match at this stage," Rao told reporters in Visakhapatman.
Saurashtra Cricket Association which is hosting Tuesday's series-opener in Rajkot had also offered to host the match.
RAJKOT: Yuvraj Singh is a doubtful starter for the first one-dayer against Sri Lanka due to his finger injury and a final decision on his availability would be taken on Tuesday.
"Final call on Yuvi's fitness will be taken before the match. Virat Kholi will play if Yuvraj fails the fitness test", MS Dhoni said.
Saurashtra Cricket Association president Niranjan Shah said that the team management would take a decision on Yuvraj's availability for the match after going through the report submitted by the orthopedic surgeon.
"The Indian Team management will take a final decision after looking at the report submitted by the orthopedic surgeon," Shah said.
The former BCCI secretary declined to comment further on the doctor's report.
However, BCCI sources said they are hopeful that the explosive batsman would be fit to play the first ODI on Tuesday.
"Yuvraj seems to have suffered a hairline fracture on his little finger and the team management is hopeful he will be able to play the first ODI at Rajkot on Tuesday," BCCI sources said.
Yuvraj was taken to Dr Dinkar Virparia's clinic late in the evening for check-up after the left-hander complained of pain in his little finger on his left hand due to an injury suffered during the second Twenty20 match in Mohali on Saturday.
Later he was taken to the Rajkot Imaging Centre where an X-ray of his finger was taken.
Earlier in the day, India and Sri Lanka teams arrived here for the first One-Day International of the five-match series, beginning on Tuesday.
The teams arrived in Rajkot on a chartered plane amid tight security.
KUALA LUMPUR: Italian Jarno Trulli and Finn Heikki Kovalainen will drive for Lotus in the 2010 Formula One season, the new Malaysian-backed teamannounced on Monday.
Former Toyota and Renault driver Trulli had been strongly linked to the team, while Kovalainen was freed up for a move after being replaced at McLaren by world champion Jenson Button. Malaysian Fairuz Fauzi was named as the team's third driver.
"(Trulli) will bring us a lot of experience to develop the team, and Heikki is a young driver but has phenomenal experience so I think we have two fantastic drivers with Fairuz as well," team principal Tony Fernandes told reporters at a ceremony in Malaysia's parliament.
"It's a wonderful mix of experience, youth and passion and shows our seriousness to be a world championship contender."
Trulli, 35, won one Grand Prix for Renault in 2004, a record matched by 28-year-old Kovalainen with his single win for McLaren in Hungary last year.
AirAsia airline entrepreneur Fernandes said he had set an initial goal of being "the best among the new teams" in 2010.
Lotus are one of four new teams entering the sport next season in an expanded 26 car starting grid.
"We are not setting any big targets, we want to at least be the best of the new teams, but I think it shows our seriousness today by announcing two really world class drivers," Fernandes added.
The Lotus F1 team, which was set up in September, is supported by the Malaysian government as part of Prime Minister Najib Razak's "1Malaysia" initiative to promote racial unity among Malaysians.
The government has said that it would not invest in the team except through national carmaker Proton, which owns Lotus.
NEW DELHI: Indian Premier League (IPL) chairman and commissioner Lalit Modi pooh-poohed reports circulating in a section of the media that he is being eased out of the cricket's biggest money-spinner.
Modi said there was no truth in "these planted stories" as he was appointed by the cricket board's general body for five years to run the IPL.
"Also, there's no truth in the report that the post of IPL commissioner is being abolished," he insisted.
IPL vice-chairman Niranjan Shah, too, indignantly refuted the so-called move, saying that someone was trying to play a prank and the media fell hook, line and sinker for the bait. "How can anyone believe such trash without giving it a thought?" he shot back.
Another senior board official, not wanting to be dragged into the unsavoury controversy nor wishing to be identified, said that there was not even discussion on the subject at any of the recent board meetings.
"Yes, some months ago, there was some loud thinking whether the chairman and commissioner's posts be delinked but there was no serious discussion. One suggestion was that the board president should be the IPL chairman," said the board insider.
The official said that someone tried to link the development with the recent Rajasthan Cricket Association election, in which Modi was defeated by union Rural Development Minister CP Joshi.
Modi worked out the modalities of IPL during the tenure of Sharad Pawar and it became a huge commercial success.
He is also the chairman of the Champions League that draws the best Twenty20 teams of the cricketing world.
