McGrady, Rockets beat Hawks 83-75 for 20th straight win

The Houston Rockets’ 20th straight win was far from pretty, but coach Rick Adelman was still impressed with his team.

The Rockets were held to their lowest first-half total of the season but pulled away late to become the third team in NBA history to win 20 consecutive games, tying for the league’s second-longest winning streak with an 83-75 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday night.

“It may be the ugliest thing we’ve done, but it might have been the best one,” Adelman said, “the way we fought through it.”

The Rockets joined the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers (33 straight) and 1970-71 Milwaukee Bucks (20) as the only teams to win 20 or more in a row.

“We did enough to win,” Adelman said.

Tracy McGrady scored 21 of his 28 points in the second half for Houston, which led only 71-70 with 5 minutes remaining. McGrady then scored five points in Houston’s 10-0 run to take control.

“We’re really happy with this win because we didn’t play well in the first half,” McGrady said. “This is a pretty ugly game tonight. We didn’t shoot well and it was one of those games that our defense really had to win for us.”

The Rockets are 20-0 since their last loss on Jan. 27 against Utah, including 7-0 since losing Yao Ming to a foot injury on Feb. 26. The Hawks have 16 losses in that same period.

A basket by Atlanta’s Marvin Williams with 5 seconds left in the game ended the Rockets’ streak of 10 straight wins by 10 or more points. Joe Johnson led the Hawks with 28 points, and Josh Smith had 16 points and a career-high 22 rebounds.

The Rockets pulled within one game of the Lakers for the best record in the Western Conference. Even so, many observers continue to focus on the Lakers and Spurs and other teams in the conference.

That’s OK with Houston.

“It’s unbelievable,” McGrady said. “For me to be on this team that has accomplished 20 straight wins, that has got to be right up there with the most gratifying things I’ve accomplished in this league. … You look at the Bulls that were 72-10, they didn’t even do it. So this is pretty remarkable.”

Added Adelman: “You could see the guys, it really means something to get this and just keep not only the streak going, but keep moving in the right direction.”



Shane Battier had 15 points as Houston struggled to preserve its winning streak despite trailing 33-32 at halftime.

“Houston makes you play that way,” Johnson said. “They are not a fast-paced team.”

Houston led 59-57 at the end of the third quarter, but Atlanta’s Zaza Pachulia opened the fourth with two free throws. Minutes later, he was called for a technical foul after arguing an offensive foul. Battier made the free throw to give the Rockets a 66-62 lead.

Atlanta closed to 71-70 when Chuck Hayes and Luis Scola scored on back-to-back baskets.

After Smith was denied inside, McGrady stretched the lead to 77-70 with a jumper which bounced twice on the rim before falling through the net. McGrady added a 3-pointer with 1:53 left for an 81-70 lead to cap the 10-0 run.

The Hawks have lost six of seven, but remain in contention to end the league’s longest streak without a playoff appearance. They fell one-half game behind New Jersey for the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference.

“It’s been tough,” Johnson said. “Everytime we get in a position to move up, we take a step back.”

Houston allowed only 89.3 points per game during its 19 straight wins and set a low scoring pace against the Hawks.

McGrady made only two of 10 shots from the field and three of six free throws in the first half as the Rockets shot only 27.9 percent from the field.

Despite a combined 31 rebounds by Smith and Al Horford, the Rockets held a 56-52 edge on the boards and an 18-15 advantage in second-chance points.

“We weren’t able to stop them from getting second chances,”Smith said.“They crashed the boards today.”

Houston has held two straight opponents to 75 or fewer points, following a 91-73 win over New Jersey on Monday.

Shameful Exit

It is a shame for India's national sport as its worst fears came true. For the first time in eighty years the Indian Hockey team failed to qualify for the prestigious Olympics. Great Britain defeated India 2-nil in the final of the Mens Olympic hockey qualifiers played at Santiago in Chile on Sunday 9th March,2008.

India had earlier lost to Britain in the league match but the Indian coach was confident of pulling off a victory in the final decider. However, that was not the case as Britain got the early advantage through Barry Middleton's goal. India lost pace in the match thereafter as a second goal from Richard Mantell helped Britain extend the lead to 2-0.

With the entire hockey fraternity baffled by this shocking exit of Team India, former players expressed their views on the same. Former Indian Olympian -- Viren Rasquinha -- described Sunday as a sad day for Indian hockey and attributed the loss to poor strategy. He said, "Yes it is actually a really sad day for Indian hockey. I watched the game today but from the looks of it the British team were far superior from us, much better in every aspect of the game and they deserved to qualify. Right from the start, there was no composure maintained, lack of strategy and lack of discipline as well. The team does not seem to be learning from their mistakes. It is not just a problem that has cropped up overnight, this has been something that has been around from the last 10 -15 years and it has just boiled down to the fact that we have failed to qualify for
the Olympics." The former player also added that it is not upon him or the common man to decide if KPS Gill should resign. He believes strongly that he is just a player and it is not on his onus to interfere in the politics of the game.

Even as India failed to qualify for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the hockey team managed a record six consecutive Gold's since the introduction of Hockey as a discipline int he Amsterdam Olympic games in the year 1928. India went onto win at Los Angeles, Berlin, London, Helsinki and Melbourne. India's Victory march was then stopped by Arch Rivals Pakistan at the 1960 Rome Olympics. But India then recovered well to win the next two editions at Tokyo and Moscow.

India's glorious past
Medals in Olympics

Year Venue Medal
1928 Amsterdamn Gold
1932 Los Angeles Gold
1936 Berlin Gold
1948 London Gold
1952 Helsinki Gold
1956 Melbourne Gold
1960 Rome Silver
1964 Tokyo Gold
1980 Moscow Gold



Gone are those days when India's hockey performance used to dominate headlines. India have won the Olympic Hockey Gold 8 times but their last success came in 1980 at the Moscow Olympics. Ever since it has been a familiar tale of dissappointment, with India failing to finish even in the top four.

But after the success of the Indian Hockey team in the 2007 Asia Cup, hopes were high again. However, after failing to qualify for the 2008 Olympics, the big question is what's the future for Indian Hockey? India however did have the chance to Qualify for the 2008 Beijing Olmypics had they finished in the top three of the 2006 Doha Asian Games. A look back at the last five editions of the Asian Games suggests that a poor performance at the Doha Games cost India dearly.

Loss at Doha costs dear
India at Asian Games


Year Venue Medal
1990 Beijing Silver
1994 Hiroshima Silver
1998 Bangkok Gold
2002 Busan Silver
2006 Doha 5th place

Force India unveils car, team colours

The Gateway of India came alive to the roar of the Formula One engines on a wintry Thursday evening here. No, the F1 hadn’t come to India but it was another occasion to celebrate the country’s foray in the world of motorsport - the unveiling of Force India’s new car for the 2008 season.



The gold, tungsten and white machine, christened VJMO1 after its owners, Indian billionaire Vijay Mallya and Dutch entrepreneur Micheal Mol, was laid bare in front of an eclectic audience comprising motorsport gurus, corporate honchos, social butterflies and film actresses.

"It is a moment of immense pride, emotion and passion," remarked Mallya, who is also the chairman and managing director of the Force India Formula 1 team. Five years ago nobody could have thought of putting up an Indian team in F1, he indicated. "India wasn’t ready for this commitment," he reasoned. But the economic boom played a huge part in Mallya’s drive to buy a F1 team. "It is a small manifestation of the Indian surge," he added in good measure.

To put things in perspective, he made an expense statement too. For the 2008 season, more than $120 million (Rs 480 crores) have been pumped into the venture, he revealed.

The expectation levels too were understandably high. "When India hosts an F1 race in 2010, Force India will be on the podium," he thundered. He even exhorted the cricketing audience to come out in support for Force India, when the season begins with the first race at Melbourne on March 16.

Keeping in with the mood of the evening, Giancarlo Fisichella, the main driver of the team, did a namaste for the shutterbugs as he posed for pictures.

Also making a presence of the car were: ICICI Bank, Medien (German consumer electric company) and Kanyan Capital (African investment company), the co-sponsors of the team.

Mike Gascoiyne, technical director of the team, said: "The car mechanically is very sound. Aerodynamically we can improve. I know that. We are two seconds off the pace as of now but I think we can knock off three-quarters of a second. The car is definitely a good standard to move forwward," he told.

A team is as good as its drivers and in Giarcarlo Fisichella and Adrian Suteil, the team has a mix of experience and talent that will serve it well, according to Gascoiyne.

India Dethrone The World Champions In Their Own Den

Team India created history at the Gabba on Tuesday (March 4) after it defeated Australia by 9 runs in the second finals of the cricket tri-series. It was a special moment for Team India as it won series in Australia after 23 years. Indian bowlers ripped through the Australian top and middle order.

This is India's Best win in ODI's after the World Cup in 1983 and the World Championship Cricket in 1985 in Ausralia.This is India's first Tri-series win in Australia and first after Natwest trophy in 2002 in England.

After scoring a competitive 258/9 largely built around Sachin Tendulkar's majestic 91, the Indians held their nerves in the tense dying moments to stop the Australians at 249 with two balls to spare and wrap up the best-of-three finals with a 2-0 margin.

It was a remarkable display by the Indians who not only conquered the mighty Australians in their own den but brought about a happy ending to a turbulent tour, marked by a racism row involving Harbhajan Singh and a series of on-field bickerings.

This is the win of sheer determination and the boldness of Dhoni's boys to meet World Champions eye to eye in their own den. This is the victory of confidence Indian Captain MS Dhoni has shown in his younger players. Each time a etsablished player got injured(Zaheer Khan,RP Singh) or was out of sorts(S Sreesanth,Yuvraj Singh,Munaf Patel), the younger players stood up and got counted(Ishant Sharma,Rohit Sharma,Gautam Gambhir,Praveen Kumar,Piyush Chawla).

Ishant Sharma,the find of the Australian tour, in just two months has become the strike bowler for India. A guenine fast bowler who is extremely fit and athletic, has a good head on his shoulders and most impressive thing about him is that is a very quick learner. When he first came on the scene, he was bowling in the 130-140 km/h range but as he bowled long spells in the test matches, his bowling muscles grew stronger and now he is consistently bowling above 145 km/h. The defining hour which made Ishant Sharma was the his spell to Ricky Ponting, currently No.1 batsman in the world, in the Perth Test Match where Ponting was hopping and gowling all over the place to a 19-year kid and the way he got Ponting out made him feel he belongs to this level of cricket and he can trouble even the best in the business. A real find for India.

India win U-19 World Cup

It was a super duper sunday on March 2, 2008 for the Indian colts, who created history in Malaysia by clinching the Under-19 World Cup title after beating the Proteas -- South Africa -- by twelve runs in a rain curtailed final. Captain Virat Kohli led the team from the front and bagged the nation a coveted glory. It was an exceptional day in Indian cricket history when the Indian young warriors fought their way out of the World Cup victorious, without dropping a single match in the championship. The Indians have been crowned the Under-19 kings earlier under the captainship of Mohammad Kaif in 1999-2000. Speaking exclusively, skipper Virat expresses joy and calls this win a complete team effort.

On the victory:

Virat Kohli -- a young lad with matured head on his shoulders -- was thrilled with the victory. The man of the moment was completely out of words and said cheerfully that it was a complete team effort. The nation registered a victory because they played like a unit.

On India's victory in Sydney:

Virat was not only happy about his own team's win in Malaysia, but also expressed joy over the Men in Blue's win in the first finals of on-going Commonwealth Bank series in Sydney. He said that he is extemely delighted how the team has performed down under. Virat added that both the teams wished each other pre and post victories.

On chances of winning:

When quizzed about the how the pressure was handled throughout the tournament and his chances on winning the Under-19 World Cup, Virakt said that he had faith in his team. Each player believed in each other's capacities and talents. There were nervous moments throughout various matches in the tournament, however, Virat maintained that it is all a part of the game. He said that he kept telling his team mates that catches will be dropped, partnerships within the oppent teams will be built, but all that needs to be done is give 100 per cent throughout. Virat also believed that the team did eventually come out well and gave their best which bagged them the coveted prize.

On celebrations post victory:

The skipper was clueless about how he would celebrate the victory with the boys in the dressing room. When asked about what would the celebrations be like, he said that he would have to go and see how the dressing room has reacted to the victory.

Super Duper Sunday: India wins first final

It's super duper Sunday as India seniors and the colts battle it out abroad to make history. In the first final of one-day cricket tri-series, India has won the first final against Australia in the Survivor series by 6 wickets powered by a brilliant unbeaten century from the master blaster Sachin Tendulkar. Tendulkar scored his 1st century in Australia and remained unbeaten as he guided India to victory.

Australia had set a target of 240 runs, which the Indians achieved in just 46 overs. The Indian innings was anchored by a superb 123 run partnership between Rohit Sharma and Sachin Tendulkar after the Indians were in a spot of bother after Yuvraj Singh was dismissed. Rohit Sharma gave the master good support as he matched Tendulkar stroke for stroke in his innings of 66. The Indians now need to continue this momentum to Brisbane, where they play their 2nd final on Tuesday (March 4)

Openers Sachin Tendulkar and Robin Uthappa put on a 50 run partnership, before Uthappa was brilliantly caught by Michael Hussey for 17. While a little later, Gautam Gambhir was found falling short of his crease in a terrible mix-up with Sachin Tendulkar.

Yuvraj Singh's struggle with the bat continued before the southpaw was foxed by Brad Hogg at 10. Sachin Tendulkar along with Rohit Sharma have got India back into the chase by putting together over 70- run stand for fourth wicket. Rohit Sharma went back to the pavillion after scoring a fine half century with master blaster scoring another one-day century.

Sachin Tendulkar has been declared as the 'Man of the Match'

Earlier during the day, in the first final of one-day cricket tri-series between India and Australia in Sydney, Australian batsman consolidated their position after an early slump at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Sunday (March 2).

Australia had put on a competitve total after a disastrous start saw them losing their first 3 wickets in just 6 overs. Matthew Hayden and Andrew Symonds then repaired the innings as they put on a quick 100-run partnership for the 4th wicket.

Captain Dhoni's move to introduce spin worked well as Harbhajan Singh had his revenge dismissing both Hayden and Symonds in quick succession.Piyush Chawla who made his debut in the series bowled well without much success.

However, the Australian lower-order put on valuable runs as Michael Hussey, James Hopes and Brad Hogg took the total to 239 in 50 overs.

The Indian batsman will now have to play well as a sluggish Sydney pitch will be difficult to score on.



Sachin powers India's win:

Sydney match belonged to Sachin Tendulkar, who powered India to an emphatic win with a magnificent unbeaten century. In the past, master blaster had been in the firing line for a string of failures, however, on Sunday (March 2), the Sachin batted like a man on a mission. Initially, he scored half century steadying the Indian innings and keeping team India's goal on track in their run-chase.

With this century, Tendulkar has finally reached his 42nd one-day hundered. However, this one was special since it was his first one in Australia, something that had eluded the master in his 19-year long cricket career. Ironically, this match-winning knock will silence his critics for questioning his abilities as a batsman.


Brief Scores:

Australia -- 239 for 8 in 50 overs (M Hayden 82, M Hussey 45; H Singh 2/38, P Kumar 2/49).
India -- 242 for 4 in 45.5 overs (S Tendulkar 117 not out, R Sharma 66, M S Dhoni 15 not out; J Hopes 2-42)


Australia Innings

Batsman Status Runs

Adam Gilchrist (W) c Yuvraj Singh b Praveen Kumar 7

Matthew Hayden c Piyush Chawla b Harbhajan Singh 82

Ricky Ponting (C) b Praveen Kumar 1

Michael Clarke c MS Dhoni b Ishant Sharma 4

Andrew Symonds c Praveen Kumar b Harbhajan Singh 31

Michael Hussey run out (Irfan Pathan) 45

James Hopes c MS Dhoni b Yuvraj Singh 15

Brad Hogg not out 23

Brett Lee c Rohit Sharma b Irfan Pathan 17

Mitchell Johnson not out 6

Total: 239 for 8 in 50.0 overs Run Rate: 4.78 Extras : 8 (b - 1, w - 7, nb - 0, lb - 0, Penalty - 0)

Fall of wickets: 1/16 (Adam Gilchrist 2.4 ov.), 2/19 (Ricky Ponting 4.2 ov.), 3/24 (Michael Clarke 5.5 ov.), 4/124 (Andrew Symonds 23.1 ov.), 5/135 (Matthew Hayden 27.3 ov.), 6/173 (James Hopes 38.5 ov.), 7/212 (Michael Hussey 47 ov.), 8/231 (Brett Lee 49 ov.)

Australian innings:

Captain MS Dhoni sprung a surprise early on as Pravin Kumar opened the bowling for Team India. The gamble paid off after Praveen Kumar got two vital wickets -- that of Adam Gilchrist, who was playing on his home ground for one final time at 7 and Ricky Ponting, who walked pack to the pavillion at 1.

Ishant Sharma sent back Michael Clarke, who edged one behind to the keeper with Australia struggling at 24 for three.

Mattew Hayden's entry in the playing 11 steadied the Australian innings with a half century along with Andrew Symonds. The duo lead Australia's fightback putting together 100-run stand for fourth wicket.

However, Harbhajan's double strike got Team India back into the game. Andrew Symonds was first to go at 31 followed by Matthew Hayden, who was sent back by the turbanator at 82 with Australia losing half it's side for less than 150 runs.

Sweet Revenge for Bhajji:

Just a few days back, Matthew Hayden took on Harbhajan Singh, when called him an obnoxious little weed. However, Harbhajan Singh had the last laugh on Sunday (March 2) when he had Hayden dismissed just when he was looking dangerous. Harbhajan had a very special way of celebrating with Yuvraj Singh as the traded punches. Hayden in his radio interview had said he would have loved to have Harbhajan in the ring and Bhajji gave it back when he got him out.

Gautam Gambhir leading run-getter:

Meanwhile, it is India's Gautam Gambhir, who is the leading run-getter in the tournament with 422 run in his pocket at brilliant average of 70. Gambhir has been the best batsman in the series so far picking up two centuries. While Captain MS Dhoni has been very impressive with the bat coming down the order and seeing India home in couple of big wins.

Highest run-getter for India so far:

PLAYER M R HS AVG SR
G Gambhir 8 422 113 70.3 82.5
MS Dhoni 8 296 88* 74.0 70.5
S Tendulkar 8 191 63 23.9 84.14
R Sharma 8 167 70* 33.4 76.3

But the biggest boost for the Aussies has been the bowling of Nathan Bracken, who has picked up wickets in all the matches he has played. He has picked up 18 wickets in 8 matches at an average of 15.2. Brett Lee is not far behind and has been firing on all cylinders picking up 15 wickets in 8 games. Mitchel Johnson and Brad Hogg have also been great back-ups for their quality bowling attack.

Highest wicket-takers for Australia so far:

PLAYER M W B/B ECON AVG
N Bracken 8 18 5/47 3.98 15.2
B Lee 6 15 5/27 5.03 17.6
M Johnson 7 11 3/29 3.40 18.90
B Hogg 6 7 2/30 4.16 28.28

India colts battle past NZ to final

Kuala Lumpur: India survived a late scare to beat New Zealand by three wickets and book a berth in the final of the under-19 World Cup here on Wednesday.
In a thrilling rain-curtailed semi-final, the Black Caps rode Corey Anderson’s 68-ball 70 to score a modest 205 for eight in 50 overs after electing to bat.
However, the target become slightly stiffer for the Indians after it was reset at 191 in 43 overs owing to rain interruption.
Opener Sreevats Goswami (51 off 76 balls) and Man of the Match Virat Kohli (43 off 53 balls) played sensible knocks to lay the foundation for India’s win, which was achieved in 41.3 overs at the expense of seven wickets.
Even though India’s firebrand pacer Pradeep Sangwan could not taste success, other bowlers stuck to their task to check the New Zealanders from scoring freely and take wickets at regular intervals.
New ball bowler Ajitesh Argal provided the early breakthrough claiming opener George Worker (3).
Ken Williamson (37) and Fraser Colson (32) consolidated the New Zealand innings with a vital 57-run partnership for the third wicket. Kohli removed both batsmen.
That, however, was not the end of the Black Caps’ resistance as Anderson blasted 70.
Anderson gathered 58 runs for the seventh wicket with M Bracewell (17 not out) before falling to Tanmay Srivastava.
Kohli (2/27), S. Kaul (2/43) and Srivastava (2/46) were the main wicket-takers for India.
During the run chase, India lost — Taruwar Kohli (10) and Srivastava (13) — cheaply, but wicketkeeper-batsman Goswami and Kohli steadied the boat by adding 84 runs for the third wicket.
Goswami was castled by Tim Southee while Kohli was caught by Williamson off George Worker.
The Indians were cruising with 11 required off 21 balls with five wickets in hand. But suddenly, the Black Caps applied pressure and were able to notch up two quick wickets.
But middle order batsman Saurabh Tiwary (29 not out off 41 balls) held his nerve to see the Indians through.