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Hayden, Ponting
put Aussies on top Gibbs puts SA on
top with century South Africa's Jacques Kallis gets his shot away for four during the second day of the second Test match against the West Indies at Kingsmead in
Durban on Saturday. — Reuters
photo Among the best of
team efforts |
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Oram engineers
New Zealand recovery Pakistan ‘A’
beat Lankans Mumbai seamers
wreck Punjab Mumbai seamer Swapnil Hazare bowls to Punjab wicketkeeper Chandan Madan on the penultimate day of the Ranji Trophy match at the PCA Stadium at Mohali on Saturday. Hazare claimed three wickets.
— Tribune photo by Parvesh Chauhan UP-Kerala tie set
for close finish
BSF, Punjab cops
in last 8 Gymnastics meet
inaugurated Vishal of Himachal Pradesh displays his skill in the Roman rings event in the 44th Senior National Gymnastics Championship which began at Mohali on Saturday.
— A Tribune photograph NFL: Dempo shock
East Bengal Sangrur,
Ludhiana in final
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Hayden, Ponting put Aussies on top
Melbourne, December 27 Matthew Hayden and Ricky Ponting blazed away to individual centuries as their powerful batting side was only 49 runs behind India’s total of 366, which represented a slump from the overnight score of 329 for four. Left-hand opener Hayden struck a powerful 136 and Ponting was still posing an ominous threat to the visitors remaining unbeaten on 120 with batsmen like Steve Waugh and Simon Katich still to come in. In a pathetic display after their Adelaide heroics, India were bowled out in about an hour’s batting this morning and then their bowlers could not rein in the Australian batting although Justin Langer (14) and Adam Gilchrist (14) fell cheaply. In two days, a total of 683 runs have been made by the two teams which points to a decisive result in the match with three days left and with today’s showing, the Indians were on the backfoot. At stumps, Damien Martyn was giving company to Ponting on seven. After bowling out India in just 13 overs this morning, Australia were off to a cautious start. When Justin Langer (14) was caught at point swishing at widish half volley from Ajit Agarkar, India’s stranglehold on the world champions appeared to continue. But their grip quickly slackened and soon the Australians were running away with Ponting and Hayden determined to make amends for the Adelaide show. Smarting under the criticism that their sheer arrogance led to their batting downfall in the second innings at Adelaide, the home batsmen put their head down and batted with a determination not seen in the series before. (India Ist innings): (overnight 329-4): Chopra c Katich b Mac Gill 48 Sehwag c Bracken b Katich 195 Dravid c Martyn b Waugh 49 Tendulkar c Gilchrist b Lee 0 Ganguly c Langer b Lee 37 Laxman c Hayden b MacGill 19 Patel c Gilchrist b Bracken 0 Agarkar run out 0 Kumble c Langer b Williams 3 Nehra c Gilchrist b MacGill 0 Khan not out 0 Extras (lb-3 w-1 nb-11) 15 Total (all out in 103 overs) 366 FoW: 1/141, 2/278, 3/286, 4/311, 5/350, 6/353, 7/353, 8/366, 9/366. Bowling: Brett Lee 27-7-103-2 Nathan Bracken 28-6-71-1 Brad Williams 20-6-66-1 Stuart MacGill 15-3-70-3 Simon Katich 4-0-18-1 Steve Waugh 9-0-35-1 Australia (Ist innings): Langer c Tendulkar b Agarkar 14 Hayden lbw b Kumble 136 Ponting batting 120 Gilchrist c Nehra b Kumble 14 Martyn batting 7 Extras (lb-7 w-5nb-9 pr 5) 26 Total (3 wkts in 75 overs) 317 FoW: 1/30, 2/264, 3/295. Bowling: Ajit Agarkar 17-0-72-1 Zaheer Khan 17-2-75-0 Ashish Nehra 13-3-34-0 Anil Kumble 24-2-102-2 Sachin Tendulkar 4-0-22-0
— PTI |
Pak tour: Ganguly scoffs at rumours
Melbourne, December 27 In the backdrop of assassination attempts on President Pervez Musharraf in recent days, at least three senior members of the Indian team currently here are said to be worried about security when the side goes to Pakistan in about two months. Unconfirmed reports said that there was a move by the Indian team to write a letter to the cricket board voicing security concerns. Ganguly, however, denied that there was any talk of players pulling out of the
scheduled tour of Pakistan. "I have also heard such rumours. There is no truth in it," Ganguly told PTI. The Indian captain said the team was more concerned of doing well in the ongoing third Test against Australia than think about the tour, which is more than two months away. "Right now we are busy with the Test. We have not even thought about the issue or the security matter, which is said to concern us." A word spread into the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) this afternoon that Indian players were not keen to tour Pakistan on account of recent bomb blasts in the country. It was also mentioned that the players had discussed the matter inside the dressing room.
— PTI |
Gibbs puts SA on top with century
Durban, December 27 Opening batsman Gibbs thrashed 142 as South Africa reached 303 for three at the close, 39 ahead of the West Indies first innings total of 264. Gibbs and Jacques Kallis (74 not out) punished the West Indies bowlers during a third wicket stand of 168 off 208 balls after posting a century partnership in 82 minutes off only 115 balls. West Indies captain Brian Lara was reduced to setting defensive fields, with as many as five men on the boundary. It was the first innings played by Gibbs since he had to retire hurt with a broken nose after missing a hook against Vasbert Drakes in the second innings of the first Test in Johannesburg 12 days ago. He had to have an operation to reset a nasal bone. "It was the first time I got seriously hurt so it was at the back of my mind," Gibbs admitted. "But I had two good nets before the match and you just need to face one or two bouncers in the middle to put it behind you." Gibbs showed no signs of anxiety or hesitation in his strokeplay and included some meaty pulls as well as exquisitely timed cover drives. Gibbs reached his 11th Test century off 130 balls when he pulled Drakes to the midwicket boundary shortly before tea. He was out after hitting 17 fours in a 175-ball innings when he was bowled off an inside edge trying to pull Adam Sanford. It was Gibbs’ first Test century against the West Indies, although he previously hit six half-centuries in 10 matches against
them. He described it as one of his best innings. Scoreboard West Indies
(first innings overnight 232-8): Hinds c Boucher b Pollock 0 Ganga c Pollock b Ntini 6 Sarwan c Kallis b Pollock 4 Lara c Pollock b Ntini 72 Chanderpaul c Hall b Ntini 0 Baugh c Kallis b Nel 21 Jacobs lbw b Nel 58 Drakes c Boucher b Nel 67 Dillon b Ntini 6 Sanford c Hall b Ntini 15 Edwards not out 1 Extras:
(lb-6 nb-8) 14 Total: (all out, 77.5 overs) 264 Fall of wickets:
1-0 2-4 3-15 4-17 5-50 6-148 7-172 8-191 9-261 Bowling: Pollock 23-3-59-2, Ntini 25.5-8-66-5, Hall 10-2-51-0, Nel 13-4-43-3, Kallis 4-0-30-0, Rudolph 2-0-9-0 South Africa (first innings): Smith c Sarwan b Edwards 14 Gibbs b Sanford 142 Rudolph c Ganga b Sanford 36 Kallis not out 74 Kirsten not out 16 Extras:
(lb-5 nb-13 w-3) 21 Total: (3 wkts, 74 overs) 303 Fall of wickets:
1-38 2-99 3-267 Bowling: Dillon 16-4-66-0, Edwards 13-1-61-1, Sanford 19-3-74-2, Sarwan 2-0-5-0, Drakes 16-1-62-0, Hinds 8-1-30-0.
— Reuters
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Among the best
of team efforts After 18 years of international cricket I rate our performance on the second day of this Test match as one of the best team efforts I have ever been involved in. Sitting down prior to play, each player in our locker room knew just how important the day ahead was, and that it was going to take commitment, courage and belief to wrestle back the ascendency from the Indians who certainly took the points on day one. To stem the flow of the Indian batting by taking 6 for 16 in the first session of the day, then for our own batsman to stake a genuine claim for this all-important match, typified just how amazing the past two series between ourselves and India have been. This match, like the 2001 series in India, has fluctuated in fortunes with both sides possessing the balance of power at different stages. Each of these contests has certainly added to the growing cricket rivalry between the two nations and heightened the aura surrounding the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. It has been an intriguing battle and we certainly have a lot of work ahead of us if we are going to win this Test match and level the series ahead of Sydney at one win apiece. To be just 49 runs down heading into day three is a situation we probably didn't anticipate, but the men who have put us in the frame are without doubt Matthew Hayden and Ricky Ponting. When we sit back and scroll through the cricket archives in years to come, we are going to be hard pressed to find many more players who have enjoyed such a remarkable period in the game. From a captain's perspective I have been blessed to have the two of them at my disposal, and as a cricket lover, fortunate to have played in an era when they have both been so dominant on the international scene. Both are up there with Brian Lara and Graeme Smith in the race to score the most Test runs for the calendar year, but knowing the team players that they both are, the pursuit of an individual milestone will be pushed aside to seek victory in this series. Their innings today will hopefully provide us with the momentum to come away victors, just as Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman did for India in Adelaide. As a side we always talk about taking on a challenge. As far as this series goes we certainly have one in front us.
— Gameplan |
Oram engineers New Zealand recovery
Wellington, December 27 Scoreboard New Zealand (1st innings): Richardson c Youhana
b Shabbir 82 Vincent b Shoaib 0 Fleming lbw b Shoaib 0 Jones b Razzaq 16 Styris c Moin b Shoaib 36 McMillan lbw Shabir 26 Hart c Imran b Shoaib 19 Oram c Moin b Shabbir 97 Vettori c Yasir b Sami 44 Tuffey not out 9 Butler c Moin b Shoaib 4 Extras
(5-b, 14-lb, 3-w, 11-nb) 33 Total (all out, 142.3 overs) 366 Fall of wickets:
1-1, 2-1, 3-41, 4-94, 5-145, 6-171, 7-247, 8-327, 9-361. Bowling:
Akhtar 20.3-5-48-5, Sami 30-12-64-1, Shabbir Ahmed 37-8-87-3, Danish Kaneria 32-5-86-0, Razzaq 23-6-62-1. Pakistan
(1st innings): Umar batting 13 Farhat c Hart b Oram 20 Hameed b Butler 3 Youhana batting 11 Extras
(4-nb, 1-lb) 5 Total (2 wkts in 32 overs) 52 Fall of wickets:
1-27, 2-30. Bowling: Tuffey 11-5-15-0, Butler 8-3-11-1, Oram 7-1-16-1, Vettori 6-2-9-0.
— AFP |
Mumbai seamers wreck Punjab Chandigarh, December 27 After the defending champions Mumbai extended their first innings to 224, thanks to gritty knock of 81 by allrounder Robin Morris, the hosts batting collapsed against spirited rival seam bowling attack. At close on the penultimate day, top five Punjab batsmen were back in the pavilion as the hosts were tottering at 70 for 5. With Samrat Sharma, the last of the recognised batsmen and wicketkeeper Chandan Madan at the crease, the hosts' hopes of entering the semifinal are as good as over. In fact, Mumbai proved during the match why they have won the championship so many times. They adapted well to the conditions totally alien to them. Even if they were assured of the semifinals berth with their points tally way ahead of others, the champion side showed no complacency. Batting, which had been the strong point of Punjab in the league matches so far, came unstuck in the crucial contest. That the chase would not be easy for Punjab was evident after Mumbai had put 224 on board on the pitch and the conditions which were not ideal for batting. The task became tougher as the hosts did not get off to a reasonable start in the face of disciplined and accurate seam bowling attack of the visitors. Punjab lost the first wicket in the fourth over, when Ravneet Ricky was castled by an Usman Malvi delivery which looked innocuous but beat the batsman all ends up. Malvi struck again in his next over trapping Ankur Kakkar lbw. Swapnil Hazare, the second seamer who was bowling well from the other end, then hastened the batting collapse. Opener Munish Sharma could not capitalise on the reprieve he got when Vinayak Mane stationed at first slip was not agile enough to latch on to a sharp chances off Hazare. He was soon dismissed having been deceived by the same bowler into giving a return catch. The batsman made a paltry 18. Hazare then sent back Reetinder Sodhi and skipper Pankaj Dharmani as Punjab were reduced to 52 for 5. Sodhi lasted only two balls, while a circumspect Dharmani contributed 15. Punjab seamer Gagandeep Singh completed a well-deserved five-wicket haul. Scoreboard Mumbai (1st innings): Extras
( b 2, lb 15, nb 6): 23 Total ( all out in 75.5 overs): 224 Fall of wickets:
1-12, 2-16, 3-36, 4-67, 5-70, 6-149, 7-160, 8-161, 9-218 Bowling:
Gagandeep Singh 31.5-13-68-5, Vineet Sharma 9-4-24-2, Amit Uniyal 24-4-92-2, Reetinder Sodhi 11-4-23-1. Punjab (1st innings):
Ricky b Usman 7, Munish c & b Hazare 18, Kakkar lbw Usman 4, Dharmani c Samant b Hazare 15, Sodhi c Jaffer b Hazare 0, Samrat batting 11, Madan batting 12. Extras
(lb 2, nb 1): 3 Total ( for 5 wickets in 32 overs): 70 Fall of wickets:
1-11, 2-23, 3-45, 4-45, 5-52 Bowling: Usman Malvi 13-6-28-2, Swapnil Hazare 11-3-27-3, Robin Morris 7-1-13-0, Ramesh Powar 1-1-0-0. |
UP-Kerala tie set for close finish Palakkad, December 27 Scoreboard Uttar Pradesh (1st innings) 214 Kerala (1st innings): 247 Uttar Pradesh (2nd innings): R. Prakash lbw b S. Nair 79, J. Yadav c H Kumar b A’padmanabhan 19, S. Raina c S Oasis b P. Chandran 39, R. Elahi not out 74, R. Samshad c S. Somasunder b S. Kumar 9, G. Pandey c V. Lal c S. Kumar 0, P. Malawiya c H Kumar b S. Nair 4, N. Chopra c C.M. Deepak b P. Chandran 1, R. Mishra c C.M. Deepak b P. Chandran 1, A.W. Zaidi c S. Oasis b S. Nair 7, A. Verma run-out 4. Extras (B 6, LB 6, NB 6) 18. Total in 96.3 overs 255 FoW: 1-53, 2-133, 3-181, 4-213, 5-213, 6-222, 7-229, 8-233, 9-246. Bowling P. Chandran 15-3-45-3, S. Cheruvathoor 1-0-6-0, S. Nair 39.3-15-69-3, S. Kumar 15-4-43-2, A’padmanabhan 21-2-68-1, S. Oasis 5-0-12-0. Kerala (2nd innings): C.M. Deepak not out 11, S. Somasundar b G. Pandey 20, V. Lal not out 1. Extras 0. Total for 1 wicket in 10 overs 32 FoW: 1/29 Bowling: A.W. Zaidi 3-0-10-0, R. Mishra 1-0-4-0, N. Chopra 4-3-11-0, G. Pandey 2-0-7-1. Railways struggling VADODARA: The Elite A group Ranji Trophy match between Baroda and Railways is poised for an interesting finish after the hosts managed to avoid the follow-on and made their opposition bat again on the third day of the encounter at the IPCL ground here today. Railways were tottering at 84 for eight wickets when the stumps were drawn and have taken an overall lead of 220 runs. Earlier, resuming at their overnight total of 73 for 5 wickets, Nayan Mongia and Tushar Arothe could not survive for long and lost the former when the team’s total was 79.
— UNI/PTI |
BSF, Punjab cops in last 8 Nabha, December 27 The other teams to roll into the last eight were Indian Oversees Bank (IOB) who trounced Corps of Signals 4-1 and Vajra Corps, Jalandhar, who played a scrappy game but managed to subdue CRPF 2-1. BSF and RCF dished out a dull and drab brand of hockey. For BSF, who like Punjab Police were without some of their top players, circumspection was the key word. Combined moves were at a premium and the Jalandhar outfit played like a disjointed unit often going on the defensive. Strikers Christopher Ekka and M.Topno did come up with some good moves but they were thwarted in their designs by RCF custodian Preet Singh. Seconds before half time BSF struck gold when Ekka fed M. Tirkey with a lovely pass on the left flank and the latter’s hard angular shot deflected off M. Topno’s stick to find the netting. The second half too was played at a slow pace with BSF more intend on clinging on to the one goal lead. However, towards the fag end of the match, RCF managed to equalize through C.Shekhar who scored off a goalmouth melee sending the contest into the tie breaker which was won by BSF with a 5-3 margin. Punjab Police started on a brisk note and were three goals up in the first 20 minutes. This initial assault was enough to knock the fight out of the Amritsar XI team and the fourth goal scored by Punjab Police only added to their misery. In other matches IOB played a fluent game to knock out a listless Corps of Signals by a wide 4-1 margin while Vajra Corps notched up an unimpressive 2-1 against CRPF to book a place in the quarter finals. |
Gymnastics meet
inaugurated Chandigarh, December 27 Justice O.P. Verma, Governor of Punjab, who inaugurated the tournament, regretted that in Chandigarh there was no hall for gymnastics. I Ibocha Singh of Chandigarh took the oath while Mr D.S. Bedi, Director-Principal of the host school proposed a vote of thanks. The meet is being organised by the Chandigarh Gymnastics Association (CGA) under the aegis of Gymnastics Federation of India. According to Mr J.S. Kandhari, President of the CGA, each participant and official was given a sweater and kit bag on arrival. He said since they had been allotted the Sub-junior National Aerobics Championship for 2004, they had made a written plea to the UT Administration to allot land for the construction of a gymnastics hall. The CGA also asked the GFI to provide latest imported equipment . The silver medallist of the Asian Gymnastics Championship, Mayank Srivastava of Uttar Pradesh is also in the fray. Others in contention are Vikas Pandey of UP and Tumpa Debnath of Railways. Today the qualifying rounds of the men's artistic event were held. These included pommelled horse, Roman rings, horizontal bar, parallel bar, vaulting horse and floor exercises. Tomorrow morning, women's rythmic events will be held while artistic women's event will be held in the afternoon. The teams taking part are Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar,
Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Railways, Services, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttranchal, Pondicherry and the hosts Chandigarh. |
Sangrur, Ludhiana in final Sangrur, December 27 In the first boy semifinal Sangrur defeated Patiala 25-14, 25-19, 25-15 in three games. Sangrur dominated the proceedings throughout. Most of the players who belong to SAI Academy played like a unit. In the second semifinal Jalandhar defeated Amritsar 25-16, 25-16, 25-21 in a closely fought match which lasted about an hour. Holders Ludhiana moved into the finals defeating Gurdaspur 25-20, 25-13 in the girls section. The first game was a closely fought affair with both the teams fighting for every point. But in the second game Ludhiana girls played like champions and outclassed Gurdaspur in all departments. The second semifinal between Sangrur and Amritsar was a thrilling affair with both the teams trying to dominate. |
Rural soccer CHANDIGARH: Panjaura and Mazara Dingrian will clash in the final of 23rd Punjab Rural Football Tournament at Nangal Khilarian, 20 km from Hoshiarpur, tomorrow. In the semifinals today, Panjaura defeated Chak Mallan 7-6 via tie breaker while Mazara Dingrian beat Kaindhowal 2-1 through the golden goal after being locked
1-1. — TNS |
Vineet Marwaha is Mr Himachal Hamirpur, December 27 Vineet Marwaha of Una, who was declared
Mr Himachal during the 10th Annual HP State Body Bulding Championship at Hamirpur on
Saturday. — Photo by Chander Shekhar Sharma |
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