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Dravid discharged
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Mongia forces draw against UP
Experts question PHL format
Gurbazz wins golf title
PNB thrash Pbi varsity
GHP School in semis
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Sri Lankans face uphill task
Ahmedabad, December 20 Off spinner Harbhajan Singh spun a web around the Lankans in their first innings to skittle them out for 206 before lunch with a magnificent haul of 7 for 62, his 17th plus-five heist in his 50th Test. The bowling heroics of the off spinner, who had sent the tourists scampering for cover with his spin magic late last evening when he took 4 wickets in 30 balls for 9 runs, were followed by Yuvraj's brilliant innings of 75 off 83 balls on a difficult pitch. The Punjab left-hander’s efforts propelled India to 287 for nine in their second essay after having made 398 in their first. The last wicket pair of Anil Kumble (23) and Harbhajan (19) were at the crease when stumps were drawn for the day. The hosts are ahead of the visitors, seeking their first Test win in India and trailing the home team 0-1 in the series, by 479 runs. Marvan Atapattu’s men now face the daunting task of defying the Indian spinners on a wicket offering copious turn and unpredictable bounce for almost two days. Like in the first innings, the Indian lower order once again contributed heavily to the total with number nine Ajit Agarkar’s 48 in 43 balls with six fours and a six being the highlight. If the morning belonged to Harbhajan and Kumble who spun out the last five Lankan first innings batsmen in just 90 minutes of play, the afternoon was dominated by Yuvraj who stroked the ball fluently on both sides of the wicket. His 83-ball knock included 13 fours and a six as the home team went in search of quick runs in the second innings with a sizeable first innings lead of 192 to boost them up. Yuvraj, who came into this Test under severe pressure as the number six batsman in place of Sourav Ganguly and flopped in the first innings, treated the Lankan attack, including his one-time nemesis Muthiah Muralitharan, with total disdain as runs came in a torrent. Playing in only his 10th Test, Yuvraj cut, pulled, drove and slog-swept the Lankan pace and spin bowlers alike to rattle the visitors into submission before being caught behind off leg spinner Malinga Bandara. His splendid strokeplay took away whatever little hopes that the Lankans could have entertained of coming back into the match after capitulating to the guiles of Harbhajan who came up with his best-ever show against the islanders and the second-best display at this ground after former great Kapil Dev’s 9 for 83 in 1982-83 against the West Indies. The hosts got off to a shock start when Virender Sehwag, captaining the side in the absence of an indisposed Rahul Dravid, was out first ball while slashing a short ball from Lasith Malinga to Farveez Maharoof on the third man fence. India then lost first innings centurion V.V.S Laxman with only nine on board when the batsman nicked a late outswinger from Maharoof behind the stumps. He made 5. Sachin Tendulkar came to the crease to a rousing and noisy reception and made the Indians’ intentions clear. With opener Gautam Gambhir at the other end, Tendulkar was looking to go for the runs from the first ball he faced. The champion batsman drove Maharoof for boundaries off successive balls before he was adjudged leg before when he went back to play part time off break bowler Tilekaratne Dilshan, with India on 34. Tendulkar’s departure brought together two left handers — Gambhir and Yuvraj. The duo negotiated the Lankan bowlers by being aggressive in their approach and nullified Atapattu’s quick bowling changes. Yuvraj pulled and then back cut leg spinner Malinga Bandara for two successive fours in the latter’s first over and then Gambhir twice back cut Dilshan for fours but fell to Murali while trying to repeat the shot. Gambhir, who was caught behind when the ball jumped alarmingly as he tried to cut it, made 30 in 71 balls with four fours. He stayed for 107 minutes and also added 47 runs for the fourth wicket with Yuvraj. Yuvraj was joined by Mohd Kaif who too looked to go after quick runs from the start, hoisting Muralitharan for an on-driven six. But he fell leg before to Bandara soon after the Indian 100 came up in the 29th over. Yuvraj was then joined by Dhoni and the sixth wicket duo were not separated till tea and by then the former had also reached his half ton with two fours off successive balls. He continued to bat in the same vein, after losing Dhoni to the first ball after tea, and also hit Murali for three fours on the trot to take 12 runs in one over. Yuvraj fell while trying to cut leg spinner Malinga Bandara. But the tail wagged vigorously for India again in the match. In the morning, the tourists, starting the day at 131 for five, lost their remaining wickets for 75 runs, with Harbhajan accounting for three and Kumble, the only other bowler used in the session, grabbing the other two. The Lankan innings folded up just before lunch and India started their second innings after the break. Scoreboard India (1st innings) 398 Sri Lanka (1st innings) Tharanga c Dhoni b Pathan 2 Atapattu c Sehwag Sangakkara b Harbhajan 41 Jayawardene c Kaif Samaraweera c Kaif Dilshan c Kaif b Harbhajan 65 Mubarak b Kumble 13 Maharoof c & b Harbhajan 4 Bandara not out 28 Muralitharan st Dhoni Malinga c Sehwag Extras (b-1, lb-2, nb-6) 9 Total (all out) 206 Fall of wickets:
1-14, 2-74, 3-74, 4-82, 5-105, 6-144, 7-155, 8-198, 9-201. Bowling:
Pathan 10-1-36-1, Agarkar 6-2-18-0, Kumble 25-3-87-2, Harbhajan 22.2-3-62-7. India (2nd innings) Sehwag c Maharoof b Malinga 0 Gambhir c Sangakkara b Laxman c Sangakkara b Sachin lbw Dilshan 19 Yuvraj c Sangakkara Kaif lbw b Bandara 9 Dhoni lbw Muralitharan 14 Pathan b Muralitharan 27 Agarkar c & b Bandara 48 Kumble batting 23 Harbhajan batting 19 Extras
(B-7, LB-9, NB-2) 18 Total (for 9 wckts) 287 Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-9, 3-34, 4-81, 5-100, 6-134, 7-174, 8-198, 9-247. Bolwing:
Malinga 10-2-51-1; Maharoof 6-0-25-1; Dilshan 12-2-36-1; Muralitharan 21-5-90-3; Bandara 16-2-67-3; Mubarak 1-0-2-0.
— PTI |
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Karachi cleared as Test venue
New Delhi, December 20 |
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Rudolph rescues South Africa
Perth, December 20 Rudolph batted throughout the day, glueing the Proteas’ second innings together with a masterful 102 not out from 283 balls in 431 minutes. At the close of play, South Africa had reached 287-5, still 204 runs short of the 491 they had needed for victory but good enough to keep their hopes alive in the three-Test series. It was a remarkable achievement from the 24-year-old Rudolph who was called into the side to replace the injured Jacques Kallis. In the end, he virtually mirrored Kallis’ brilliant 1999 innings when the all-rounder batted for more than eight hours to score his first Test century against Australia and stave off what had seemed certain defeat during the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne. Yesterday, Kallis called on all his teammates to stand up and be counted to earn a draw after Australia prepared to come into the final day in a very strong position. Rudolph, playing in his 29th Test and fighting to keep his place in the side, clearly responded and together with middle order batsman Justin Kemp, who scratched out an uncharacteristically slow 55, the pair frustrated the Australians for 213 minutes. Only three South African wickets fell all day, starting with Herschelle Gibbs for 33 and Ashwell Prince for eight in the morning session and Kemp, late in the day. The hosts, favourites to win the match at the start of play today, were left to ponder if they had left their declaration too late. Captain Ricky Ponting called their second innings to a close as soon as Test newcomer Brad Hodge had brought up his double century just before tea on the fourth day. Although the decision saw Hodge reach a major Test milestone, it came after the Australians had built-up a monumental lead of 491 runs. Following the declaration they could take just two wickets in the remaining session and lost a further six overs when bad light stopped play. Ponting has previously criticised West Indian captain Brian Lara for playing for milestones. But while the Australians had cause to ponder, the South Africans had reason to celebrate an old-fashioned innings built on concentration and willpower. Or more tantilisingly, had they justly been given an earlier crack at the Australian middle order after catching Ponting out early in his innings only to see the delivery wrongfully ruled a no-ball. The two teams will now head to Melbourne in preparation for the Boxing Day Test which starts on December 26. Scoreboard Australia (1st innings): 258 South Africa (1st innings): 296 Australia (2nd innings): 528-8 decl. South Africa 2nd innings Smith lbw b Bracken 30 De Villiers c Hodge b Warne 12 Gibbs c Warne b Lee 33 Rudolph not out 102 Prince lbw b Warne 8 Kemp c Ponting b Warne 55 Boucher not out 13. Extras:
(b-18, lb-13, nb-3) 34 Total (5 wkts, 126 overs) 287 Fall of wickets:
1-35, 2-55, 3-109, 4-138, 5-250. Bowling: McGrath 24-11-39-0, Lee 31-9-83-1, Warne 47-21-83-3, Bracken 19-5-37-1, Symonds 3-0-6-0, Hodge 2-0-8-0.
— AFP |
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Mongia forces draw against UP
Lucknow, December 20 In the second innings, he hit an unbeaten 175 and along with the previous day’s night watchman, Bipul Sharma (62), notched up 182 runs partnership for the third wicket. In the second innings, Punjab scored 293 runs for the loss of three wickets.
— UNI |
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Experts question PHL format
Patiala, December 20 Senior NIS hockey coaches aver that they have no say in the selection of teams. They said the IHF acted on its own whims and fancies to decide on which team should be in the league or not and it was the federation alone which decided on who should be the captain and coach of each team in the process denying the teams the freedom of selecting their own players, skippers and coaches. A former Olympian said the IHF Secretary, Mr K. Jyothikumaran, was quoted as saying that the “players and captains were decided after a lot of internal debate”. However, the former India player said this statement of Jyothikumaran exposed a fundamental flaw in the PHL. “It is not the job of the federation to micro-manage each team’s composition. That job should be left to each team’s management. Does the National Basketball Association (NBA) decide which players should be in the Lakers or who should be its coach, he questions. Experts have also questioned the holding of the league on a single month basis at a single venue. A Jalandhar-based former Olympian said: “Even the Hyderabad PHL had the flavour of a tournament rather than a league as it was played within a month’s time at a single venue, Gachibowli stadium. The PHL virtually turned out to be the national games or senior nationals. Before one can blink, the season is over and fans will move over to other sports turning the PHL into a small, media-created blip on the annual sporting season. |
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Gurbazz wins golf title
Chandigarh, December 20 Mann, who was beaten in a play-off by Shiv Kapur 12 months ago, plans to make himself noticed on the Asian Tour in 2006. He pocketed Rs 3,03,744 for his effort. The 2002 Surya Nepal Masters winner, Uttam Singh Mundy and Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia, the second ranked pro on the 2005-06 Amby Valley PGAI Tour Order of Merit, finished tied second with a seven-under 209. The runners-up got to take home Rs 163,104 each. Shamim Khan and overnight leader C Muniyappa finished tied fourth at six-under 210. “I dedicate this win to my grandparents, especially my grandfather Brig Avtar Singh Mann who recently taught me some breathing exercises. These really helped me in crunch situations”, added the 23-year old.
— TNS |
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PNB thrash Pbi varsity
Chandigarh, December 20 The two goals came through Sunil Lakra while one goal was netted by G. Dass for the winning team. The lone goal for the losers was scored by Pradeep. In another match, Punjab National Bank (PNB) thrashed Punjabi University 8-1. Damandeep Singh of the PNB scored the first goal in the third minute. Prem Kumar, Gagandeep Singh, Jatinder Saroha, Satwinder Singh, Satpal Gulia and Ajitesh Rai were the other scorers for the team where as Sandeep Singh bulged the net for Punjabi University. The third match, played between Canara Bank and Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), was won by former 4-2. |
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GHP School in semis
Chandigarh, December 20 Also moving into the last four were Government Model Senior Secondary School, Jalandhar, who overpowered Birsa Munda Vidyapeet, Orissa, 4-1. The two teams were level 1-1 at half time. |
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