Ashes urn returns home

England regained the Ashes beating Australia by 197 runs on Sunday to take the five-match series 2-1.

Michael Hussey was the last man out after tea at The Oval, caught for 121 by Alastair Cook off Graeme Swann as Australia were dismissed for 348 on the fourth day of the fifth Test, falling well short of the 546 target set by England. Swann claimed 4/120 and Steve Harmison picked up 3/54 but it were two run outs in six balls -- including that of captain Ricky Ponting -- that put England on way to victory and sent all-rounder Andrew Flintoff into Test retirement as a winner.

The defeat also meant that Ponting became only the second Australia captain in 132 years of Ashes history to lose two consecutive series on England soil.

To read the full article, click here..
To read the ePaper, visit: http://epaper.indianexpress.com

Aussies very down under in Mohali, India’s perfect end to perfect Test

Stand-in skipper, stand-in blazer,” Mahendra Singh Dhoni beamed at the post-match press conference, on a charm offensive after an aggressive India had completed a whopping 320-run win to take a 1-0 win in the Test series against Australia.

The fact that Dhoni walked out for the toss in an oversized jacket, after Anil Kumble had to pull out on the morning of the match, was the only blip over five days in Mohali where everything else fit just right. Needing five wickets to wrap up the game on the last day, Dhoni threw the ball to Zaheer Khan first thing in the morning. He could well have been throwing the left arm pacer a pair of boxing gloves.

Brad Haddin saw the first five deliveries of the day pitch on middle and leave him, but he quite clearly didn’t see the one that pitched on middle and hit middle. His bat hung limp in his hands, searching for contact at least six inches off target.

To read the full article, click here..
To read the ePaper, visit:
http://epaper.indianexpress.com/IE/IEH/2008/10/22/index.shtml

Bollywood actress, Aussie troops: Afghan 'sex scandal' under probe

A small time Bollywood import from Australia has landed in the middle of a raging controversy back home with the Australian government saying it is investigating claims that she had sex with Australian soldiers while touring a military base in Afghanistan last month.

Tania Zaetta, whose most famous role to date has perhaps been playing actor Arshad Warsi's Australian wife in the 2005 hit Salaam Namaste, has denied the allegations and the Australian Defence Department has since issued an unreserved apology for her name getting leaked to the media from a draft briefing note.

Although the final note prepared to brief the Australian Defence Minister does not include names, the investigation into what has been termed "inappropriate behaviour" will continue, the department said.

To read the full article, click here...
To read the ePaper, visit: http://epaper.indianexpress.com