Karnataka concede lead

Karnataka needed a further 43 runs to avoid an innings defeat with eight wickets remaining against Gujarat on the second day of the Vijay Merchant Trophy under-17 cricket tournament in Cuttack on Friday, reports DHNS.

Karnataka, who were bowled out for a paltry 133 in the first innings, were 39 for two in eight overs at close.

Karun Nair was batting on 28. Manprit Juneja and Rinkin R Christian took one wicket apiece for Gujarat.

Earlier, Gujarat gained an 82-run innings lead as they were all out for 215. Chirag Parhar top scored with 38. 

Brief scores: Karnataka: 133 and 39/2 in 8 overs (Karun Nair 28 batting; Manprit Juneja 1-1, Rinkin R Christian 1-0) vs Gujarat: 215 all out in 98.3 overs (Sanit Gohil 28, Avi Baroj 31, Manprit Juneja 25, Chirag Parhar 38, Harshal Patel 25; S Rohith 2-69, Sivam Bajaj 4-35). 

New Zealand drop Vincent

The stop-start career of New Zealand batsman Lou Vincent was halted by another red flag on Friday when he was dropped from the squad for the one-day series against Sri Lanka, reports AFP from Wellington.

Squad: Daniel Vettori (captain), Brendon McCullum, Jamie How, Peter Fulton, Scott Styris, Ross Taylor, Mathew Sinclair, Jacob Oram, Kyle Mills, Mark Gillespie, Chris Martin, Jeetan Patel.

Anand calls on prime minister

Chess wizard Viswanathan Anand and his wife Aruna met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at his residence here on Friday, reports PTI from New Delhi.

The chess World Champion and his wife were greeted by Singh and his wife Gursharan Kaur and the “courtesy visit” lasted about 10 minutes, a source in the Prime Minister’s Office told PTI.

Ponting tops ICC rankings

Australian skipper Ricky Ponting’s two unbeaten centuries in the Chappell-Hadlee series gave him his career best rating points of 832 as he continued his domination at the top of the ICC rankings for the ODI batsmen, released on Friday, reports PTI from Dubai.

The second position is held by his teammate Andrew Symonds who has 778 points followed by Kevin Pietersen at 738. The lone Indian in the top-10 list is Sachin Tendulkar at seventh spot after gaining one spot.

Four Man U fans sentenced

Four Manchester United fans were each sentenced to more than two years in jail on Friday in connection with clashes with AS Roma supporters, judicial sources said, reports Reuters from Rome. The four were arrested after clashing with rival fans at a bar on December 12.

Crouch blasts foreign players

Liverpool striker Peter Crouch has accused foreigners of play-acting following his sending off for a robust challenge on Chelsea's Jon Mikel Obi on Wednesday.

Crouch, who received a red card for his challenge,   told the Liverpool Echo newspaper: "Foreign players have brought a lot to our game but that's something you don't want to see.”