Rain forces abandonment of Ireland v Australia - ESPN.co.uk
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Brett Lee took two wickets in his first three deliveries and a fantastic catch from Michael Clarke helped Australia further reduce Ireland to 36 for 3 before the rain returned to cause the abandonment of the one-off ODI between the two sides at Stormont in Belfast.
Lee, making his first appearance of the tour ahead of Australia's five-match ODI series against England, proved his form by knocking over the off stumps of both William Porterfield - for a golden duck - and Ed Joyce in a double-wicket maiden to start the match. Paul Stirling hit four fours in his 24 but fell in Pat Cummins' third over to check Ireland's mini-revival.
With little more than 10 overs bowled, the teams were forced off by a heavy downpour and, despite repeated inspections, the umpires finally called play off shortly before 4pm.
Australia's captain, Clarke, won the toss and sent Ireland in to bat after a 45-minute delay to the scheduled start. The ground had recovered well from heavy pre-match rain, allowing the match to get underway at 11.30am local time, without a reduction on the allotted 50 overs a side.
The tourists made four changes from the team that accounted for Leicestershire in their opening match of the tour, a minor muscle strain ruling out George Bailey and allowing Peter Forrest to come in. The pace attack was reshuffled entirely, Lee, Cummins and Ben Hilfenhaus for Mitchell Johnson, James Pattinson and Clint McKay.
Ireland opened up with Stirling and Porterfield at the top of the order, the same combination that gave Australia a fright the last time the two sides met in 2010, while Tim Murtagh was handed an expected debut.
Ireland 1 Paul Stirling, 2 Will Porterfield (capt), 3 Ed Joyce, 4 Niall O'Brien (wk), 5 Gary Wilson, 6 Kevin O'Brien, 7 Alex Cusack, 8 John Mooney, 9 Trent Johnston, 10 George Dockrell, 11 Tim Murtagh.
Australia 1 David Warner, 2 Matthew Wade (wk), 3 Shane Watson, 4 Michael Clarke (capt), 5 David Hussey, 6 Peter Forrest, 7 Steve Smith, 8 Brett Lee, 9 Pat Cummins, 10 Ben Hilfenhaus, 11 Xavier Doherty.
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Waging lonely war against JD-U, BJP minister seeks RSS support - Economic Times
Singh, the state Animal Husbandry and Fisheries Minister, had last night met RSS's regional pracharak Swant Kumar and the state pracharak Anil Thakur at their office and apprised them about the delicate political situation in the state following a war of words between the two parties over the CM's "secular" barb at BJP and Narendra Modi.
He also urged the RSS leadership to rally behind him and defend the BJP and Sangh Parivar's ideology.
Singh has been the only state BJP leader who has publicly attacked Nitish over his "secular PM" remarks and question his secular credentials. He had deliberately stayed away from a recent cabinet meeting apparently to protest against Kumar's indirect barb at his Gujarat counterpart.
The minister has also publicly defended Modi as a secular leader and dared Nitish Kumar to sack him if he disapproved of his views.
Sources said the RSS leadership has convened a meeting with the top state BJP leaders this evening to discuss political situation arising out of the strained ties between the two longstanding NDA allies in the past one week.
In another development, a senior BJP leader and Road Construction Minister Nand Kishore Yadav met Singh at his residence last night and advised him to adopt a restrained approach in his barbs against the CM and the JD(U), they said.
Truce spares RSS loss of face - Times of India
PATNA: Thanks to truce in this week's JD(U)-BJP sparring over the demand of Bihar CM Nitish Kumar regarding "secular PM" candidate of the NDA for the 2014 parliamentary elections, the Bihar unit of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) heaved a sigh of relief on Saturday.
Indeed, the "positive" turn of events has finally spared it a probable loss of face, as it had come perilously close to getting embroiled in the verbal brouhaha of the state leaders of the two parties, when the BJP minister in the state government, Giriraj Singh, called on the state leaders of the RSS at their local office on Friday.
Singh informed the RSS about the recent political situation in the state arising out of the divergent track of the JD(U) with respect to the presidential election and also in the light of its demand regarding 'secular PM', which was tantamount to blocking the path of Gujarat CM and BJP strongman Narendra Modi from his possible run for the post of PM. Reportedly, even as RSS advised restraint, Singh asserted that he would resume the sparring game with the JD(U) if its leaders did not stop from issuing statements that undermined the status of the BJP in the Bihar NDA.
However, given the delicacy of the situation from the point of view of the RSS, state NDA convener and road construction minister Nand Kishore Yadav, who enjoys the reputation of being BJP's troubleshooter, called on Singh at his residence to advise him restraint. Asked about his advice to Singh, Yadav laughed it away, saying: "It was only a courtesy call and friendly gesture for some personal work! Think positive!"
Despite this, a rumour spread like wildfire on Saturday that the state unit of the RSS had "convened" a meeting of the state BJP top brass, implying its core committee members - deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi, state chief Dr C P Thakur, state general secretary (organization) Nagendra, road construction minister Nand Kishore Yadav and health minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey.
However, the BJP insiders with their umbilical cord in the RSS maintained that the RSS never convenes a meeting of the state BJP on any express purpose. "If at all, BJP leaders only hold informal meeting with the RSS," said a state BJP organization man with roots in the RSS.
Singer Leona Lewis kicks off Radio 1's Hackney Weekend - BBC News
The music has started on stages away from the main arena at Hackney
Leona Lewis has taken to the stage at BBC Radio 1's Hackney Weekend at Hackney Marshes in east London.
The singer is the first artist to play on the main stage which will also see performances from Ed Sheeran and headliner Jay-Z.
Earlier the music began on the outer 1Xtra and In New Music We Trust stages as well as the Dance Arena.
N-Dubz star Dappy and newcomer Jessie Ware were the first acts to perform at the event.
British singer Rita Ora and Canadian dance act Deadmau5 have also been on stage.
Leona Lewis was introduced by BBC Radio 1Xtra DJ Trevor Nelson who said: "[She is] the most famous singer to have ever come out of Hackney."
The singer opened the event with a cover of Diddy Dirty Money's song Coming Home featuring a guest performance from rapper Wretch 32.
Fans have been making their way on site since the gates opened at 10.30am with some people camping out since the early hours to get to the front.
Around 50,000 people are attending the first day of the free two-day event which is part of the UK-wide London 2012 Festival.
They have had to go through metal detectors and had their bags searched before getting into the site.
Hackney was one of the areas of London at the centre of last year's riots and is known to have gang problems.
Before the show ticketholders were contacted and advised to allow at least two hours to get into the arena.
Radio 1 reported queues of around 35 minutes just after midday.
Louisa Danquah, 16, from Hackney was one of the fans to come through the security checks.
She said: "You can't be too careful. For my safety, for everyone's safety it's best. I don't mind at all. It was quick and efficient."
Temi Tioo, 17, Bromley, south London, said: "I was in the queue for an hour but we came early. I think the scanners are important because you never know what kind of trouble wants to bring. Better to be safe than sorry. It's the right procedure."
SecurityChief Superintendent Richard Woolford from the Metropolitan Police said they were "confident" and "happy" with the security and safety planning around the event.
Hackney Weekend ticketholders go through metal detectors
Sade Antoinette, 20, from Hackney was at the front of the queue and said: "We've been here since 6am. We didn't didn't sleep. It's so exciting."
Shanicee Amoani, 16, from Stoke Newington, London, said: "I can't wait to see Jay-Z and Nicki Minaj. Hopefully we'll be at the front. I'm sure it'll be a great day and even if it does rain, it'll still be good."
Jay-Z is headlining the line-up which also features Ed Sheeran and Nicki Minaj.
It is the biggest live event organised by BBC Radio 1 in its 44-year history and more than twice the size of the network's annual Big Weekend.
More than 250,000 people applied for tickets when registration opened in February.
'Vibrant scene'BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra's controller Ben Cooper said: "Hackney is the perfect fit for us - an Olympic borough with a vibrant music scene and a large young population, many of whom can often be overlooked and disengaged, so exactly the people that we wanted to reach and inspire."
Sade Antoinette (left) and her friends queued up early to get in first
The weather forecast for Saturday is dry and breezy throughout the day, with some rain expected for late in the evening.
Artists taking to the stage on Saturday include Nicki Minaj, Kasabian, Ed Sheeran, Jack White, will.i.am, Emeli Sande, Calvin Harris and Swedish House Mafia.
More than 100 artists will perform across six stages throughout the weekend.
Project Hackney, a group from a pupil referral unit in Newham, east London, were the first act to perform on the Introducing Stage.
Sunday's line-up features headliner Rihanna along with performances from Florence and the Machine, Tinie Tempah, Jessie J, Plan B, David Guetta and Lana Del Rey.
Coverage of Hackney Weekend will be on BBC Three, BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 1Xtra and online.
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