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India look to regain form against SA
Kiwis take honours as Oram cracks ton
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Prasad foils Delhi's bid for outright win
PSB register huge win
Hisar girls emerge champs
Punjab continue to dominate
ITBP athletics meet from November 22
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India look to regain form against SA
Kanpur, November 19 Ganguly has been permitted to play the first Test pending a verdict on his appeal against a two-Test ban for slow over rate in a one-dayer against Pakistan but his availability for the next match still hangs in the balance, with the Appeals Commissioner expected to give his ruling next week. Although the Indian team management has put up a bold face saying that the incidents involving the captain would not serve as a distraction, it is bound to weigh heavily on the minds of the players when the Test gets under way on what is seen as a sporting track at the Green Park stadium. For the moment, at least, Ganguly will be in charge of the team which is desperately seeking to regain its top form after a string of defeats in both Tests and one-dayers in recent times. Having allowed Australia to conquer the ‘The Final Frontier’ and clinch their first series win on Indian soil in 35 years last month, the Indians do not have too many happy memories as they go into the new series but coach John Wright is confident that his wards would be able to turn the tide sooner than later. It is the perfect opportunity for the struggling top order batsmen to hit top form against a new-look South African team which has as many as seven players with little or no experience of playing at the highest level. However, coach Wright has warned his players not to take their opponents lightly, who are known to be great fighters. “The series is just like any other series. We want to win, if we play well, we can do it. We have a lot of respect for the opposition. They play tough cricket and we can’t underestimate them,” Wright said. The Indians have made it clear that they will not make any changes to the batting order, which means that Delhi opener Gautam Gambhir, who failed in both innings of the Mumbai Test against Australia, will get another chance to prove his worth. But with Ganguly returning to the team after an injury lay-off which saw him miss the last two Tests, the in-form Mohammad Kaif will have to make way to
accommodate the skipper. The Indians may be tempted to go into the match with three specialist spinners — Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh and Murali Kartik — but may settle for the two spinner-two seamer formula as the Green Park track and the heavy early-winter atmosphere in northern parts of the country is bound to give some assistance to the fast bowlers. “We are definitely going into the match with two spinners. Whether we will have an extra spinner will be decided later. The 3-1 combination (3 spinners and a pacer) worked well for us against Australia in Mumbai,” Wright said. “But the conditions were different there. Here because of the moisture factor, we may have to take two seamers,” he added. The home team’s pace bowling department has been bolstered by the return of the left-handed Irfan Pathan who missed the last two Tests against Australia because of an injury. Batting has been India’s strength but the indifferent form of the top order batsmen has gradually become a matter of concern though Wright keeps talking about the class of these players and their ability to deliver the goods. “The batsmen have not performed up to their potential. The guys are class players, but they have not clicked for some time. As a coach, I back them and I am quite sure they will click sooner than later,” Wright said. The South Africans, on the other hand, are going through a transition period following a rather prolonged sequence of defeats in the Test arena in recent times. Their recent one-day records have been far more disappointing, having lost 1-5 to New Zealand and 0-5 to Sri Lanka in the last two tournaments. Captain Graeme Smith, who will be the batting mainstay for his young side, said the South Africans had come here with a new set of players who were keen to do well on this tour. Barring Smith, all-rounder Jacques Kallis, former captain Shaun Pollock and Makhaya Ntini are the three most experienced players in the line up and a lot will depend on them if they hope to prevent the Indians from running away with the honours. Boeta Dippenaar, Andrew Hall and Jacques Rudolph have also played at the highest level but most of the other names such as Zander de Bruyn, Thami Tsolekile and Alfonso Thomas may mean nothing to Indian fans. Although curator Shiv Kumar prefers to call the Kanpur track a “sporting wicket”, he is not ready to predict how the relayed pitch will behave, obviously wiser after the experience in Nagpur and Mumbai where the wickets played spoilsport during the Australian series. The pitch, which looks quite dry though it has a very slight tinge of grass, is bound to spin probably from the third or the fourth day which should favour the home team. Kanpur is hosting an international match after nearly five years but the sale of tickets has been lukewarm till now and the stadium, which has a capacity of 40,000, may remain more or less empty when the 19th Test match at this venue gets under way tomorrow. The teams (from): India:
Sourav Ganguly (capt), Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Dinesh South Africa: Graeme Smith (capt), Jacques Rudolph, Jaques Kallis, Boeta Dippenaar, Justin Ontong, Hashim Amla, Zander de Bruyn, Shaun Pollock, Makhaya Ntini, Thami Tsolekile, Andrew Hall, Martin van Jaarsveld, Alfonso Thomas and Robin Peterson. Hours of play: 9.30 am to 11.30 am, 12.10 pm to 2.10 pm and 2.30 pm to 4.30 pm.
— PTI |
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Kiwis take honours as Oram cracks ton
Brisbane, November 19 In a situation reminiscent of New Zealand’s last drawn series here in 2001, the Kiwis doggedly chipped away at the much-vaunted Australian batsmen to have them struggling at 128 for four after 37 overs. When fading light ended play with three overs left to bowl, Australia were counter-attacking at 197 for four — 156 runs behind — with in-form Damien Martyn making an authoritative 59 and new talent Michael Clarke on 31. Oram, the imposing No. 7, played his finest innings, clubbing 12 boundaries and three prodigious sixes in a vintage knock of 126, to revive a Kiwi innings that appeared to be running out of steam when he came in at 138 for five before tea the opening day yesterday. The 26-year-old giant, playing in his 16th Test, raised his second Test century after his unbeaten 119 against South Africa in Hamilton last March and then took to the all-star Australian bowling line-up, hoisting Michael Kasprowicz for successive sixes and slamming Jason Gillespie for six and four off consecutive balls. Scoreboard New Zealand (1st innings) Richardson c Ponting Sinclair c Ponting b Gillespie 69 Fleming c Warneb Kasprowicz 0 Styris c Gilchrist b Kasprowicz 27 Astle run out 19 McMillan c Gilchrist b Warne 23 Oram not out 126 McCullum st Gilchrist b Warne 10 Vettori c Warne b Kasprowicz 21 Mills c Hayden b Warne 29 Martin c Ponting b Warne 0 Extras
(b-1, lb-2, w-3, nb-4) 10 Total (all out, 117.3 overs) 353 Fall of wickets:
1-26, 2-26, 3-77, 4-138, 5-138, 6-180, 7-206, 8-264, 9-317, 10-353. Bowling:
McGrath 27-4-67-0, Gillespie 29-7-84-1, Kasprowicz 28-5-90-4, Warne 29.3-3-97-4, Lehmann 4-0-12-0. Australia (1st innings) Langer lbw Vettori 34 Hayden lbw Mills 8 Ponting c Astle b Martin 51 Martyn batting 59 Lehmann c McCullum b Vettori 8 Clarke batting 31 Extras
(lb-1, nb-5) 6 Total (4 wkts, 57 overs) 197 Fall of wickets:
1-16, 2-85, 3-109, 4-128. Bowling: Martin 13-5-44-1, Mills 12-6-33-1, Oram 10-1-43-0, Styris 5-1-27-0, Vettori 17-4-49-2.
— AFP |
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Prasad foils Delhi's bid for outright win
New Delhi, November 19 Delhi by virtue of their 180-run first innings lead had to be satisfied with two points for the second time in a row. Resuming at their overnight score of 266 for 7, Andhra added only 45 runs to their total before being bowled out for 311, 75 minutes before lunch. Thus the vistors conceded 180 run lead to the hosts who had declared their first innings at 491 for 9. Seamer Sanjay Gill who claimed all the three wickets finished with a carrer best haul of six for 91 in the first innings and his efforts took Delhi very near to the victory as Jadeja enforced a follow on. The hosts started sniffing outright victory as they claimed couple of wickets before lunch. But M S K Prasad's determined unbeaten knock of 71 and bad light, which forced stoppage of play when 19.5 overs were still to be bowled, saw Andhra not letting their rivals go with full four points. As the visitors started their second innings, Gill struck again as he trapped opener A S Pathak (4) leg before when the score was 14 and 22 runs later Kunal Lal send second batsman back to pavillion when he bowled Mohammad Faiq (10). Delhi (1st innings): 491 for 9 decl Andhra (first innings):
AS Pathak b Gill 2 LNP Reddy c Dahiya b Kunal Lal 6 M Suresh lbw b Kunal Lal 3 Y Gnaneswara Rao c Manhas b Gill 32 MSK Prasad lbw b Negi 1 ASK Varma b Gill 80 RVC Prasad c Gill b Negi 33 KS Sahabuddin b Gill 115 M Faiq not out 18 AG Praveen c Dahiya b Gill 0 D Kalyankrishna b Gill 0 Extras
(b 13, lb 2, nb 6) 21 Total ( in 103.3 overs ) 311 Fallof wickets: 1-7, 2-12, 3-17, 4-18, 5-64, 6-140, 7-258, 8-299, 9-307 Bowling:
S Gill 29.3-6-91-6 K Lal 27-7-58-2 N S Negi 21-5-63-2 R Bhatia 9-6-15-0 S Singh 8-0-37-0 A Jadeja 3-0- 6-0 M Manhas 1-0-11-0 A Bali 5-1-15-0 AP (2nd innings following on):
AS Pathak lbw b Gill 4 LNP Reddy b Gill 40 M Faiq b Kunal Lal 10 Y Gnaneswara Rao lbw b Bhatia 6 MSK Prasad not out 71 M Suresh c Chopra b Kunal Lal 0 ASK Varma not out 12 Extras: (lb 3, w 1, nb 5) 9 Total: ( in 67.1, overs) 152 for 5 Fall of Wickets: 1-14, 2-36, 3-59, 4-113, 5-114 Bowling: S Gill 20-8-52-2 K Lal 16-3-31-2 M Manhas 1-0- 4-0 N S Negi 2-0- 7-0 A Bali 6-1-10-0 R Bhatia 14-5-26-1 A Jadeja 4.1-2-07-0 A Chopra 4-1-12-0. Bundela ensures two points for MP
Mumbai: Devendra Bundela cracked an unbeaten century to ensure Madhya Pradesh collected two points from their Elite Division Group A Ranji Trophy tie against holders Mumbai, which ended in a draw here today. MP secured two points by virtue of having taken the first innings lead while Mumbai got none. Bundela, who rescued MP from a top-order collapse last evening after the visitors had taken a vital 22-run first innings lead, continued the good work today as well to remain unbeaten on a well-compiled 139 in the team's second innings total of 222. MP were also well-served by last man Sanjay Pandey, who used his long reach to keep the Mumbai bowlers, especially left arm spinner Nilesh Kulkarni at bay on a turning track for more than two hours to deny Mumbai a chance to score an outright win. Set 245 to win in a minimum of 33 overs by MP, who were all out at the stroke of tea after resuming in the morning at a jittery 99 for 5, the Mumbai batsmen made an effort to attain the stiff task. However, the hosts failed in their endeavour to score at 7-plus an over and closed at 81 for 4, all the four wickets falling to seamer Pandey. Mumbai's stand-in captain Vinod Kambli, who promoted himself to the one-down position, made 24 in 25 balls before becoming Pandey's fourth victim. The home team then downed the shutters and played out for a draw. Brief Scores:
MP 255 and 222 (D Bundela 139 not out; Nilesh Kulkarni 5 for 55) drew with Mumbai 233 and 81 for 4 (Sanjay Pandey 4 for 20). Haryana-Tripura tie
ends in a draw
AGARTALA: Despite brilliant knocks from Chetan Sharma (116), Ishan Ganda (142) and India team aspirant Joginder Sharma (139), Haryana could manage only a draw in their four-day plate group Ranji Trophy encounter against Tripura here today. However, minnows Tripura earned two points from this match by virtue of their first innings lead. Resuming at their overnight score of 118 for two, Haryana scored a total of 437 in their second innings losing three more wickets today. Opener Chetan Sharma, who was unbeaten at 50 yesterday, scored 116 with the help of 15 hits to the fence and 2 over the fence. Ganda resuming on his overnight score of 43 made a strokeful 142 with the help of 12 boundaries facing 407 balls before he fell leg before off Timir Chanda. While Joginder Sharma’s brilliant 139 came from 157 balls. His innings was studded with 10 boundaries and 3 sixes. Skipper and India team discard Ajay Ratra remained unbeaten on 2 at the close of the fourth and final day’s play. For the hosts Timir Chanda and Vineet Jain scalped two wickets each while S Sharma took one wicket. Haryana (1st innings): 200 Tripura (1st innings): 288 Haryana (2nd innings): B Bist b V Jain 1 C Sharma st KSM Iyer b S Sharma 116 S Singh b V Jain 1 I Ganda lbw b T Chanda 142 J Sharma c KSM Iyer b T Chanda 139 A Ratra not out 2 Extras (b 15, lb 8, nb 8, wb 5) 36 Total: (five wickets in 139.4 overs) 437 Fall of wickets: 1/11, 2/13, 3/233, 4/416, 5/437. Bowling: T Chanda 13.4-3-57-2 V Jain 26-7-70-2 N Raghavendran 30-5-88-0 S Sharma 37-8-112-1 S Roy 30-7-68-0 M Singh 1-0-4-0 T Roy 2-0-15-0.
— UNI, PTI |
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Gagandeep bowls Punjab to big win
Amritsar, November 19 Punjab earned five points from the match, including a bonus point. Punjab had got two points from its previous match against Uttar Pradesh. Resuming at the overnight score of 147 for seven in the second innings, Assam were bowled out for 158 runs today. Gagandeep, who had grabbed six wickets in the first innings, captured 12 wickets in the match. Vasant and Arlen failed to stay for long at the crease and added just nine runs to the overnight score of 147. Arlen (12) was the first to be dismissed. He was adjudged lbw off the bowling of Gagandeep. Vasant also became his victim in the same way. His 69 off 117 balls included nine fours and a six. Gagandeep also got rid of Zaman, who could not open his account. It was Gagandeep’s second 10- wicket haul in the Ranji Trophy. Earlier, he had performed the feat against Andhra Pradesh. Scoreboard Punjab (1st innings) 422 Assam (1st innings) 213 Assam (2nd innings) Das c & b Rajesh 25 Aziz lbw Gagandeep 30 Zufri lbw Rajesh 4 Vasant lbw Gagandeep 69 Gohain b Gagandeep 1 Satish lbw Gagandeep 0 Ghose c Gupta b Navdeep 0 Sukhbinder c Gupta Arlen lbw Gagandeep 12 Zaman b Gagandeep 0 Yadav not out 0 Extras
(b-5, lb-4, nb-2, w-1) 12 Total (all out in 65 overs) 158 Fall of wickets:
1-34, 2-42, 3-92, 4-94, 5-102, 6-105, 7-115, 8-156, 9-157, 10-158. Bowling:
Gagandeep 17-8-26-6, Vineet 6-1-25-0, Sodhi 3-0-12-0, Rajesh 15-4-42-2, Navdeep 24-8-44-2.
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HP bag 2 points after Kerala avoid defeat
Palakkad, November 19 Oasis (82 not out) and Ananthapadmanabhan 42 (not out) took Kerala to 290 for 6 in their second innings when a draw was agreed by both the captains. Himachal Pradesh having secured the first innings lead got two points while Kerala drew a blank. Resuming at the overnight score of 23 for 1, Kerala received an early jolt when they lost C M Deepak (8). But debutant Jagadeesh (11) and Sreekumar Nair (62) steadied the ship adding 44 runs for the third wicket before Jagadeesh was out. Ajay Kuduva (21) added 34 runs for the fourth wicket with Sreekumar but Kuldeep Diwan got Kuduva edging to Sandeep Sharma as the total reached 106/4. Oasis and Sreekumar then batted sensibly and added 60 runs for the fifth wicket when spinner Vishal Bhatia trapped Sreekumar leg before. Kerala will now clash with Orissa in the next match from November 25 to 28. Brief scores: Himachal Pradesh: 465 and 187/7 decl. Kerala: 215 and 290 for 6 (Sreekumar Nair 62, Ananthapadmanabhan 42 not out, S Oasis 82 not out, Kuldeep Diwan 2/47). —PTI
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Irina Brar clinches title
New Delhi, November 19 Irina hit three sub-par rounds in four days, even though on the final day, the birdie putts did not drop as they had been doing earlier. Between Irina, Anjali and Vaishavi, they had only four birdies between them, two of them from Vaishavi. Vaishavi played the best round of the day, a two-over par 72, and jumped to the third spot as Mayali Talwar faded away with a disastrous 80. Defending champion Parnita Garewal, who lost five strokes on two holes, carded 77, five over par. She settled for the fourth position, three strokes behind Vaishavi. Irina bagged a cash prize of Rs 15,000 for her sub-par rounds and an extra Rs 5,000 from the Delhi Golf Club. Mr Siddarth Shriram, chairman of Mawana Sugar of the Shriram Group of Companies, the main sponsors of the championship, announced that Irina would receive a sack of sugar equalling her weight. Mr Shriram also announced that henceforth, starting with Irina, any Northern India champion hitting a sub-par score for the four days would receive a set of golf clubs of her choice. He also promised to sponsor a Ladies Professional Golf Tour if the idea took shape. The Siel Junior Girls Trophy was won by Vaishavi Sinha while 13-year-old Sharmilla Nicollet finished runner-up. Sharmilla also won the Nett prize for juniors and sub-juniors. |
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PSB register huge win
New Delhi, November 19 In between, Parminder Singh came up with the second goal in the fourth minute while Ravi Pal completed the first half scoring in the 27th minute. SCR reduced the margin in the 19th minute when Johnson Ekka converted a penalty corner. On resumption, the bank men were on a roll, hitting the target at will. Ajit Pal Singh struck a brace while Jatinder Pal Singh scored three goals, including the 10th, but not in a sequence. Sharanjit Singh converted a penalty corner to get the ninth goal. Amit Shrivas scored the second goal for SCR in the 58th minute. In a Group II match, Namdhari XI drew with Tamil Nadu XI 2-2. Air India defeated Karnataka XI 3-1, after leading 2-0 at half time. Gavin Ferreira, Surinder Kundu and Roshan Tete found the mark for the winners while Ajay Aiyappa pulled off the consolation goal for Karnataka. |
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Hisar girls emerge champs
Hisar, November 19 The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Balbir Singh Malik, gave away the prizes to the winning players and teams. The Additional Deputy Commissioner, Mr Pankaj Agarwal, exhorted the students to participate in sports. In the basketball finals Sirsa captured the first place, while Jind were second and Karnal third. In handball, Ambala won the top slot, with Rohtak on the second and Bhiwani on the third position. In hockey, Kurukshetra were first, Sonepat second and Sirsa third. In kabaddi, Rohtak got the first prize, with Jind in the second place and Hisar third. In volleyball, Kurukshetra remained on the top, followed by Rewari and Jind, respectively. In the athletics events, Anju of Sonepat won the first prize, followed by Ritu of Hisar and Sumitra of Sirsa in the 100 metre race. In 200 metre race, Ritu of Hisar was first, followed by Anju of Sonepat and Promila of Hisar. |
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Punjab continue to dominate
Ludhiana, November 19 In the men’s section, Punjab prevailed over Uttranchal 15-9 and 15-8 and then got the better of BHEL 15-9 and 15-12 to remain unbeaten so far. Similarly, Delhi and Madhya Pradesh men recorded victory in both their encounters today. Delhi outclassed Uttar Pradesh easily 15-2 and 15-6 and also faced little challenge from Maharashtra whom they drubbed 15-2, 15-9 while Madhya Pradesh scored a comfortable win over Himachal Pradesh 15-2 and 15-4 and then came out triumphant against Gujarat 15-6 and 15-7. In the women’s section, Punjab players proved their mettle by registering facile victories over their rivals. In the first match, Punjab eves overwhelmed Haryana 15-3 and 15-2 and later in the evening scraped past Orissa 16-14 and 15-7. Other results: (Men) Haryana beat Jammu and Kashmir 15-1, 15-4; Pondicherry beat Rajasthan 15-6, 10-15 and 15-2; Chandigarh beat Maharashtra 15-12, 6-15 and 15-12; Haryana beat Andhra Pradesh 15-1, 15-2 and Madhya Pradesh beat Rajasthan 15-0 and 15-2. Women-Himachal Pradesh beat Andhra Pradesh 15-5, 15-5; Bihar beat Orissa 15-6 and 15-11; Uttar Pradesh beat Delhi 15-1 and 15-9; Madhya Pradesh beat Chandigarh 15-0, 15-1; Bihar beat Haryana 15-3, 15-7; Orissa beat Haryana 15-7, 15-2 and Uttranchal beat Andhra Pradesh 15-0, 15-3. |
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ITBP athletics meet from November 22
Chandigarh, November 19 The four-day championship in which athletes from all the eight sectors of the ITBP will vie for top honours will be inaugurated by the Punjab Director-General of Police, Mr A A Siddiqui. |
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