|
|
|
|
|
Captain’s knock by Clarke
|
|
|
Afghanistan force India to share points
Rahul Dravid named Rajasthan Royals captain
Rahul Dravid
No dates yet for Ranjit Award
Aussies survive scare
|
|
Captain’s knock by Clarke
Brisbane, December 3 Clarke had three reprieves - on 23, 85 and 105 - all against unlucky 21-year-old paceman Doug Bracewell, before he was finally out pulling a Chris Martin ball to Tim Southee in the outfield five balls after tea. Australia was dismissed for 427 in the evening session and New Zealand reached 10 for one in the seven overs before stumps in its second innings. Brendon McCullum, who got New Zealand's first innings off to a flyer with three boundaries off James Pattinson in the first over of the match, paid the price for being more conservative in the second dig. He was out for one in the last over Saturday, fending the Test rookie paceman to Ricky Ponting at second slip. Martin Guptill was not out on seven, with night watchman Bracewell yet to score. "We're in a pretty good position," Clarke said. "There's still enough there with the new ball." Clarke shared an 86-run stand with ex-captain Ponting (78) after Australia resumed at 154-3 on Saturday, then put on 60 for the fifth wicket with Mike Hussey (15) as Australia lost two wickets in the morning session. He added 108 for the sixth with Brad Haddin (80) in a wicketless middle session before running out of luck after the second interval. "It's nice to make some more runs," said Clarke, who has scored three centuries in his last six Test innings. "A bit of luck. Got dropped a couple of times, bowled off a no-ball - but good to make some more runs for Australia." Clarke is leading Australia for only the seventh time, and the sixth since replacing Ponting after the World Cup quarterfinal exit in March. He got a light pat on the back from Martin as he departed, the dismissal sparking a mini-collpase as No. 8 Peter Siddle (0) edged Vettori to slip with no addition to the total and Pattinson (12) edged to Ross Taylor again at slip to give Bracewell his first Test wicket in Australia. — AP Scoreboard New Zealand 1st innings 295 Australia 1st innings Warner c Young b Southee 3 Hughes c Guptill b Martin 10 Khawaja run out 38 Ponting lbw b Martin 78 Clarke c Southee b Martin 139 Hussey c Ryder b Vettori 15 Haddin c Martin b Guptill 80 Siddle c Taylor b Vettori 0 Pattinson c Taylor b Bracewell 12 Starc not out 32 Lyon c Brownlie b Southee 5 Extras (lb 6, w 3, nb 6) 15 Total (all out; 129.2 ovrs) 427 Fall of wickets: 1-3, 2-25, 3-91, 4-177, 5-237, 6-345, 7-345, 8-374 , 9-418. Bowling: Vettori 37-13-88-2, Southee 28.2-5-103-2, Martin 28-5-89-3, Bracewell 26-3-104-1, Guptill 3-0-18-1, Brownlie 3-0-11-0, Williamson 4-0-8-0. New Zealand 2nd innings Guptill batting 7 McCullum c Ponting b Pattinson 1 Bracewell batting 0 Extras (lb 1, nb 1) 2 Total (1 wkt; 7 ovrs) 10 Fall of wickets: 1-10 Bowling: Pattinson 4-3-1-1, Siddle 3-0-8-0.
|
|
Afghanistan force India to share points
M.S. Unnikrishnan Tribune News Service
New Delhi, December 3 For defending champions India, this match was considered as a soft outing, but in the end they were lucky to escape defeat by the skin of their teeth. Afghanistan, who are at least 20 points below India in FIFA ranking, not only pushed the hosts around but also put the Indian goal under tremendous pressure in the last ten minutes. Custodian Karanjit Singh effected a few diving saves on his left to deflect goal-bound attempts to India’s relief. Afghanistan was also served well by their goalie Bashir Ahmad Darman, who excelled in gathering ground shots and aerial balls. India were stunned out of their wits when Afghanistan forged ahead in the fourth minute. Balel Arezo trapped the ball on the right, controlled it well before taking a stiff first-time shot, which zoomed into the right side of the net like a bullet. But India soon gathered their forces in fighting mode and went on the offensive, which fetched them a corner kick and off Steven Dias' cross, Sunil Chhetri head home to equalise. Chhetri later set up many scoring opportunities to his fellow-forwards, but none could aim straight, though for his tireless labour he was adjudged Man of the Match. When the final hooter sounded, the hosts heaved a sigh of relief as they could at least share points in their opening match. If India had any game plan in place, it was not very evident as their moves got broken up in the midfield or near the goalmouth, as the Afghans seemed more interested in breaking their rhythm than creating moves on their own. A draw perfectly served the visitors' purpose against an higher-ranked team like India, as the other two teams in Group A, Sri Lanka and Bhutan, are considered as easy fodder. Lanka swamp Bhutan
Sri Lanka swamped Bhutan 3-0 to record the first victory in four matches in the 6th edition of the SAFF Championship at the Nehru Stadium here tonight. Sri Lanka could have perfectly played the "massacre of the innocents" act, but they played at half pace, and still were good enough to knock in three goals with perfect ease. After Mi Mohamed Bin opened the account early in the first half, Nipuna Dewinda Bandara added the second goal a few minutes later. Dewinda was once again on the mark on resumption to give the Island nation a comfortable outing in their very |
|
David Ferrer puts Spain 2-0 ahead
Seville, December 3 Playing on his favourite clay surface before a rowdy crowd at the Olympic Stadium, Nadal got Spain's bid for a third trophy in four years off to a good start with a 6-1, 6-1, 6-2 destruction of 26th-ranked Monaco, the world number two's training partner. Nadal told a news conference he tried to lift Monaco's spirits in the dressing room after the match. "He hasn't played that bad as to get that result but it's just I have made very few mistakes," the 10-times grand slam champion said. "He's one of my best friends and I was in the locker room talking with him. He knew it was because I played especially well and not because he played especially bad." As night fell over the Andalucian capital, the tenacious Ferrer fought back from two sets to one down to beat Del Potro 6-2 6-7 3-6 6-4 6-3 after almost five hours of attritional tennis and send the red and yellow clad home support into raptures. Needing to win Saturday's doubles and Sunday's two reverse singles in the best-of-five tie, Argentina face a seemingly impossible task to secure a first Davis Cup trophy in their fourth final with Nadal apparently unbeatable on the red dust. The muscular Mallorcan clubbed 27 winners on the specially constructed indoor court, which straddles the running track at one end of the arena, 20 of them on his fearsome forehand. — Reuters
|
|
Rahul Dravid named Rajasthan Royals captain
New Delhi, December 3 "...gotta make another huge announcement, The New Captain fr Rajasthan Royals..Proud 2 have RAHUL DRAVID head the Team this season. Yipee," tweeted the franchise's co-owner Shilpa Shetty. "So its Official now! The "WALL" it is;)Congratulations Rahul, am sure u will make us all very proud at RR..Go Royals," she added. The fifth edition of the Twenty20 league will be played from April 4 to May 27 next year. The 38-year-old Dravid, who was part of Royal Challengers Bangalore team to start with, was bought by the Rajasthan team for $500,000 in the players' auction before the start of IPL 4 this year. Rajasthan were without a captain after Warne announced his retirement from the IPL in May this year. The 42-year-old Warne, who coached and captained Royals since the first edition in 2008, is currently playing in the Australian Big Bash Twenty20 Tournament for the Melbourne team. Dravid was reasonably successful in his debut season for the Royals this year, scoring 343 runs at an average of 31 in 12 matches. — PTI
|
|
No dates yet for Ranjit Award
Patiala, December 3 These awards, which earlier included cash award of Rs 1 lakh, a scroll and a statue of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, were last given in 2004. Sources said that the delay in giving these awards was due to the Finance Department of Punjab which had put in a clause demanding a proper Maharaja Ranjit Singh Policy before giving away this honour. Punjab Director of Sports, Pargat Singh, when contacted in this regard said the delay was caused due to shortage of funds. Now that the Government has released the funds, the awards would be given in December itself. “We have completed all the formalities and would soon announce the date of the awards function,” Pargat Singh said.
|
|
Auckland, December 3 In men's hockey's last major tournament before next year's Olympics, hot favourites Australia needed two goals from inspirational skipper Jamie Dwyer to down the committed Spaniards. Dwyer admitted the Kookaburras, chasing an unprecedented fourth straight Champions Trophy, failed to live up to their billing as the world's top-ranked team and raging favourites to claim Olympic gold at the London Games. "We were very passive, we should have been a lot more aggressive and we allowed their ball carriers too much time and space," the four-time world player of the year said. "We definitely didn't play to our potential and we're probably lucky to get the result in the end.” — AFP
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | E-mail | |
Michael Clarke posted his first century as Test captain on home soil in a chance-filled 139 on Saturday, guiding Australia to a 132-run first-innings lead on day three against New Zealand.
New Delhi, December 3
