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Bowlers jolt Oz after Sourav’s ton
Decision to quit final: Ganguly
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Air India down Chirag United
Commonwealth Youth Games
PSB win; Punjab Police held
39-member Haryana team for Police Games
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Bowlers jolt Oz after Sourav’s ton
Mohali, October 18 The batsmen were complimented well by bowlers as India finished day two of the second Test against Australia at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium here on a satisfactory note today. While Ganguly scored 102, Dhoni was unlucky to be dismissed at 92, as India put up a commendable 469 on the board. Australia were off to a disastrous start. Losing key scalps at crucial moments, the Australians were reduced to 102 for 4 at close. Though Zaheer and Ishant bowled well to inflict the initial damage, it was debutant leg-spinner Amit Mishra, who set the Australians back by his twin strikes that thrust the visitors into a situation where they face the daunting task of averting the follow-on. While Matthew Hayden had no clue to a Zaheer delivery when he was bowled comprehensively, Ponting was done in by Ishant, his tormentor during the recent away Test series in Australia. Ponting was taken aback by the sharp in-dipper from the lanky fast bowler, who bowled a lively spell. The ball darted in to strike the Australian skipper on the pads and the dreaded finger of the umpire - Rudi Kortzen in this case - went up as Ponting took a while to begin his march towards the pavilion as the visitors were reduced to 17 for 2. It was, however, Mishra who did the damage. He was not overawed by the prospect of bowling to Australian batsmen on his debut on the second day track, which is not known to help spinners. Spur on the target right from the beginning, he kept the batsmen guessing with his deliveries which gained enough turn. First he flummoxed Simon Katich with a delivery that found the gap between the bat and the pads to disturb the bails. Mishra returned towards the fag end of the day for the second spell and claimed the prized scalp of Clark off what turned out to be the last delivery of the day to leave Australians tottering. Clark contributed 23. Mishra finished the day with a satisfying figures of 8.5-1-21-2. Michell Hussey survived on a couple of occasions when thick edges off seamers in the cordon between wicketkeeper and the first slip went abegging. The left-handed batsman finished the day unbeaten on 37. Earlier, a stubborn Ganguly proved a thorn in the Aussie flesh and successfully stonewalled all Australian efforts preventing them from making further inroads into the India innings after the fall of nightwatchman Ishant’s wicket. While Ganguly successfully blocked whatever was hurled at him, Dhoni was willing to take the lead and played some lusty hits. The wicketkeeper-batsman pulled and drove with elan to keep the scoreboard moving. He sent Siddle soaring over the fine leg area for a mighty six and then dispatched Lee twice for two boundaries in the same over. A sedate Ganguly added just 37 runs to his overnight score of 54 to reach 91 at the lunch break. The left-handed batsman did not take too long to complete his century, his 16th in his 111st Test. His 102-run knock included eight hits to the fence. Continuing in the same vein, Dhoni struck his trademark shots. He was unlucky to miss out on he three-figure mark falling lbw to Siddle when he was batting on 92. He hit eight fours and four sixes during his 124-ball stay at the wicket. The visitors will be pinning their hopes on Hussey to come good once again if they have to stay alive in the match. Scoreboard India (1st innings) Gambhir c Haddin b Johnson 67 Sehwag c Haddin b Johnson 35 Dravid b Lee 39 Tendulkar c Hayden b Siddle 88 Laxman c Haddin b Johnson 12 Ganguly c Lee b White 102 Ishant c Katich b Siddle 9 Dhoni lbw Siddle 92 Harbhajan b White 1 Zaheer run out 2 Mishra not out 0 Extras: (b-4, lb-10, nb-3, w-5) 22 Total: (all out, 129 overs) 469 FoW: 1-70, 2-146, 3-146, 4-163, 5-305, 6-326, 7-435, 8-442, 9-469 Bowling: Lee 24-5-86-1, Siddle 28-5-114-3, Johnson 27-4-85-3, Watson 24-3-71-0, Clarke 7-0-28-0, White 19-0-71-2 Australia (1st innings) Hayden b Zaheer 0 Katich b Mishra 33 Ponting lbw Ishant 5 Hussey not out 37 M Clarke lbw Mishra 23 Extras: (lb-1, nb-3) 4 Total: (4 wkts, 40.5 overs) 102 Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-17, 3-62, 4-102 Bowling: Zaheer Khan 13-4-24-1, Ishant Sharma 9-3-28-1, Harbhajan Singh 10-2-28-0, Amit Mishra 8.5-1-21-2.
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Decision to quit final: Ganguly
Mohali, October 18 “I do not want to play any more. Except for the tour against Sri Lanka, I had two excellent years for the country. But, despite this form, I will stick to the decision,” Ganguly, who scored his maiden Test century against Australia and the 16th overall, stated emphatically today. The left-handed batsman was replying to queries whether his current form would prompt him to change his decision to quit international cricket. The elegant batsman, who yesterday achieved a major landmark when he completed 7,000 Test runs to join a select band of Indian batsmen like Sunil Gavaskar, Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar, categorically denied that he did not take the retirement decision under any duress. He also denied that he was a victim of circumstances. “It was a personal decision,” he said. Ganguly denied that he approached this innings in a different way as he had already made up his mind to retire after the series. “I got ready for the innings as I used to get earlier. I have enjoyed every moment I spent while playing for the country, always keeping in mind that it could be my last day at this level.” Though he felt satisfied at having scored a century against the champion side, Ganguly said it may not be his most outstanding knock of his career. “I am very happy to score the century. It is great to score against a side like Australia. I have played at Mohali earlier also. The venue is, in fact, lucky for me.” Quizzed about the sedate nature of his knock, Ganguly replied, "It was not easy scoring the boundaries. There was not much gap in the field employed. They had people saving the boundaries." Ganguly stressed that it was Test cricket which tested the skills of a player. “You will be remembered as a player by what you have achieved in Tests. Players like Gavaskar, Tendulkar, Lara and Ponting are truly great because they have excelled in Tests over a long period of time.” Regarding all the talk surrounding the Fab Four that their time at the highest level was over and whether they should also follow suit, Ganguly said Tendulkar, Dravid and VVS Laxman were all great players and had served the country admirably. “It is going to be their individual decision. But obviously, age should not be the criteria for judging a player.” “Peter Siddle was quite sharp. I have faced him earlier in Australia. In fact, all the Aussie quicks bowled well touching 140 kmph or more. If he (Siddle) bowls in Australia, he will be even more effective because pitches there aid pace bowlers,” Ganguly replied when asked by Australian scribes how he rated the debutant seam bowler. Asked about the continuing lacklustre form of Matthew Hayden, he remarked that the burly opener was a fantastic batsman and had scored heavily against India. “He will again score a lot of runs. I hope these runs do not come against us.” |
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Sparse crowds worries ICC
Mohali, October 18 “When I came to the PCA Stadium yesterday, I was privileged to see Tendulkar create history. But unfortunately, stands were largely empty. There were not many people to see the history being made. We will have to look into the matter, which is very serious” Lorgat said. The first day of the second Test saw Tendulkar overtake Lara as the highest run-getter in Tests. Ironically, barring a couple of hundreds of schoolchildren in stands, there were hardly any fans to witness the landmark being made. Lorgat said though spectator response during the first Test at Bangalore was better, but the decreasing crowd support for the longer version of the game was a matter of grave concern and the ICC would surely look into it. Asked whether cricketers these days would be able to prolong their career for as long as Tendulkar did - he has played international cricket for 19 years - in view of the hectic international calendar and the growing popularity of the T20 game, Lorgat said, “It was a challenge and the ICC was alive to the issue.” Regarding the vexatious issue of ICL’s dispute with the BCCI, Lorgat said a meeting was held between the officials of the ICL and the BCCI. “It is for them to sort out the matter. As for the ICC, we are waiting a formal reply from the BCCI,” he said. Quizzed about the England-Sri Lanka series, which clashes with the second edition of the IPL, Lorgat replied, “It was difficult to speculate. Serious discussions were going on in this regard. Moreover, all cricket playing nations agree on one point - the supremacy of international cricket.” "We still have time before the start of the series and the issue is being dealt by the respective boards. I'm sure BCCI would also support them," he added. Asked if finding a window for IPL would solve the problem, Lorgat said, "We have not yet discussed that. We are waiting to see how it unfolds.” “The ICC is a member of the IOA. The sole question was whether we want to participate in the Olympics or not in view of the already overcrowded international calendar,” Lorgat replied when asked about the participation of cricket in the Olympics. |
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Tuffey, Hall thwart Superstars Chandigarh, October 18 Put into bat, Lions made 163 for 8 in their 20 overs. Dinesh Mongia top scored with 47 runs (29 balls, 8 fours, 1 six). Superstars’ Hayward scalped four wickets. In reply, Chennai Superstars only managed to make 155 runs. Scoreboard Chandigarh Lions Elliott b Hayward 27 Vincent c Vignesh b Jesuraj 3 TP Singh c & b Hayward 12 Mongia c Hemanth G Gupta c Vignesh b Hayward 25 Cairns c Law b Shabbir Ahmed 0 Sarabjit Singh lbw Hayward 7 AJ Hall not out 13 I Malhotra c Saravanan b Harvey 4 Tuffey not out 12 Extras (lb-4, w-7, nb-2) 13 Total (8 wkts, 20 overs) 163 Fall of wickets: 1-32, 2-39, 3-48, 4-114, 5-114, 6-132, 7-132, 8-143 Bowling: Shabbir Ahmed 4-0-30-2, R Jesuraj 4-0-27-1, M Hayward 4-0-21-4, Syed Mohammad 2-0-29-0, G Vignesh 2-0-11-0, IJ Harvey 4-0-41-1 Chennai Superstars Harvey c Singh b Tuffey 21 Vignesh c Vincent b Tuffey 14 Law c Hall b Tuffey 2 Arnold b Hall 35 Sathish c Vincent b Malhotra 38 S Mohammad b Hall 19 Saravanan run out 16 Hemanth Kumar lbw Hall 4 Jesuraj not out 1 Shabbir Ahmed not out 0 Extras (lb-1, w-3, nb-1) 5 Total (8 wkts, 20 overs) 155 Fall of wickets: 1-22, 2-38, 3-40, 4-102, 5-128, 6-140, 7-152, 8-154 Bowling: Hall 4-0-23-3, Tuffey 4-0-13-3, I Malhotra 3-0-38-1, Ablish 4-0-36-0, Mongia 4-0-30-0, TP Singh 1-0-14-0. Player of the match: Tuffey (Chandigarh Lions).
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Mahindra end JCT’s unbeaten run
Ludhiana, October 18 JCT, who were without their talismanic striker Eduardo da Silva and first-choice mid-fielder Baldeep Singh jr looked a tad jaded right from the start. Pawan Kumar came in for the injured Edu and Amandeep Singh got a start too. The match started with both teams trying to feel their way into the game. But JCT custodian Karanjit was pressed into action straight away when in the fourth minute, Pierre broke away from the off-side trap and took a stinging shot at the goal. Karanjit somehow managed to parry away the ball. But JCT soon hit back with Baljit Sahni, who was fabulous throughout the game, with a sensational attack from the right wing. Baljit made a solo run, leaving the MU defenders flat-footed. But their was not much purchase on his low cross and the keeper made a comfortable save. The home team hit back again in the 22nd minute as Baljit's cross found Balwant but the MU keeper Subhashish tipped away the header. The first half ended in a stalemate and both teams had little to cheer about as their were little or no chances towards the end of the half. Both teams came out in the second half with some kind of a resolve. But it were the visitors who struck in the 53rd minute through Sukhwinder Singh. He was at the end of a cross and struck a clinical shot from the outside of his boot that beat Karanjit and hit the back of the net. The visitors were looking the sharper side and another goal too looked ominous. In the 57th minute, Chidi slipped away from the JCT defence but shot wide from close range. Again in the 73rd minute, Sushil Kumar's header beat Karanjit, but was obstructed by the cross bar. The attack seemed to wake JCT from their slumber and they regained a bit of their shape. Harvinder got on to a through ball and charged towards the MU goal only to lose his footing and be dispossessed by Subhashish. JCT had chances towards the end of the game and their stand-out player, Amandeep Singh took a shot from the right wing, but Subhashish again came to his side's rescue. The resulting corner presented Harvinder with a chance and the forward lashed a ferocious volley that hit the cross bar. In the 90th minute the crowd erupted when Jagpreet headed past Subhashish. But the frenzy was short lived as the assistant on the near side ruled Jagpreet to have fouled the MU keeper. There was a lot of protest from JCT's coach Sukhwinder but the goal stood cancelled, ending JCT's unbeaten start to the season. |
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Air India down Chirag United
Mumbai, October 18 The only goal of match, which was bereft of goalmouth thrills in the first half and became a bit rough towards the end, was notched by AI medio Surojit Roy in the 71st minute of the match. Roy, coming into the fourth round tie with two goals under his belt, added one more to the tally by deflecting in a long throw-in from Uttam Singh on the right to break the deadlock midway through the second half. East Bengal win Kolkata: A brace by striker Yusif Yakubu guided East Bengal to return to victory path defeating Vasco Sports Club Goa 2-0 in their fourth round match of the ONGC I-League at Yuba Bharati Krirangan here tonight. After putting his side in the lead as early as in the sixth minute, Yakubu struck again at the fag end. He was rightly adjudged Man-of-the-Match. — PTI
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Commonwealth Youth Games
Pune, October 18 Showing a marked improved performance at a time when the International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge was present, India bettered their last edition’s medals tally by leaps and bounds wrapping up the seven-day extravaganza with 33 gold, 26 silver and 17 bronze. Last edition's champions Australia finished on the second spot with 24 gold, 19 silver and 22 bronze, while England with 18 gold, nine silver and 14 bronze secured the third spot. India had to settle for a silver and a bronze on the concluding day of the CYG which saw only boys and girls singles finals and third place play-off in tennis being played. Yuki Bhambri earned India the first medal - a bronze - on the concluding day when he beat Logan Mackenzie 7-5, 6-2. Kyara Shroff wrapped up India's CYG campaign by bagging the silver in the girls singles tennis . Kyara was defeated by Heather Watson of Guernsey 1-6, 2-6 in the final.
— PTI |
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PSB win; Punjab Police held
Jalandhar, October 18 In the second match, Punjab and Sind Bank registered an impressive 4-0 win over BSF, Jalandhar. The match between the bank team and BSF was a one-sided affair. The bank team scored goals at will and had established the lead in the sixth minute of first half. Vikramjit Singh opened the account for bankers through a penalty corner. His straight hit sounded the board. The second goal was scored by Parminder Singh. Their third goal came from the stick of Ranjodh Singh. He dodged past the opponents to score a field goal. Their last goal was scored by Daler Singh. |
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39-member Haryana team for Police Games
Chandigarh, October 18 The wrestling cluster comprises sports disciplines in wrestling, judo, boxing, weightlifting and gymnastics. In the last Games (wrestling cluster) Haryana had bagged one gold, two silver and seven bronze. Haryana boxing team will be led by Head Constable Tanej Pal. Haryana Police are fielding eight gymnasts to be captained by Head Constable Akash Deep. Head Constable Jasbir Singh will lead judo squad. — UNI
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