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Sachin (220 n.o.), Laxman (178) in huge stand
Lean patch a wake-up call: Sachin
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India toughest rivals: Gilchrist A flawless batting display Rohan Gavaskar replaces
injured Kaif
IOB, Signals in last 4 JCT overpower Churchill 2-1
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Sachin (220 n.o.), Laxman (178) in huge stand
Sydney, January 3 Tendulkar broke his lean patch with a magnificent unbeaten 220 and Laxman struck a classy 178 as the duo plundered runs at will during their marathon association to put India at a commanding 650 for five at close on the second day. The Indian maestro gave glimpses of his vintage batsmanship to not only record his 32nd Test century but also throw a dampener on Steve Waugh’s farewell party as the world champions struggled to stem the run deluge. Parthiv Patel (45) was giving Tendulkar company at stumps on a highly productive day for the visitors which saw a number of records fall by the wayside. The Indians rattled up 366 runs, one of the highest totals in a day, to ensure themselves against a defeat and thereby strengthening the chances of retaining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Tendulkar’s long-anticipated century, coming after a gap of 14 months, has now ranked him in the second position in the list of century makers alongwith Steve Waugh with Sunil Gavaskar (34) being the only player ahead of him. Tendulkar certainly did not find his form at the right time for retiring captain Steve Waugh and in the company of Laxman might have presented the Indians a perfect New Year gift. The 353-run association between Tendulkar and Laxman was the highest ever for the fourth wicket by any team on Australia soil, surpassing the 341 put on by Graeme Pollock and Eddie Barlow of South Africa at Adelaide. It was also the highest ever for India against any opposition, bettering the 281-run stand between Tendulkar and Saurav Ganguly against New Zealand at Ahmedabad in 1999. Besides, it also eclipsed India’s previous best for the fourth wicket against Australia which was held by Dilip Vengsarkar and Gundappa Viswanath who made 159 runs between them at Bangalore in 1978-79. It was Laxman’s third triple century partnership against the world champions while Tendulkar, undefeated with a career-best 220, became the highest scorer for India at the SCG when he went passed Ravi Shastri’s 206 in 1991-92. It was ironical that the team which prides itself on playing attacking cricket should resort to negative tactics to curb the opposition. Waugh instructed his bowlers, not for the first time in the series, to operate a line outside the off-stump, so as to cut down the stroke making. Yet, runs did flow from the time Laxman, overnight 29, cracked five boundaries off Lee’s two overs early in the day to race to his half century. Throughout the day, the Indians kept scoring at a rate of more than 3.5 an over and in the last session the spurt grew to above five. First to reach his century was Tendulkar who was mightily relieved to reach the milestone as he threw up his arms and thanked the heavens. His hundred came off 212 balls and contained 16 hits to the fence. He showed little lapse of concentration and there was not one false shot from him today. Obviously, building a big partnership was the task on hand, and the champion batsman stuck to it with tremendous determination. His third 200 in Tests came after 536 minutes of stay at the crease during which he faced 395 balls and hit 29 fours. While Tendulkar was focussed on playing percentage cricket, Laxman at the other end was playing his own virtuoso. His class was stamped on the wristy on-drives, the checked push to the cover fence and the elegant glides through the slips. A nudge to backward square-leg off Nathan Bracken gave Laxman his seventh Test hundred which came off just 167 balls and contained 16 fours. The Indian total kept swelling and soon it bettered the 636 of England at the same venue in 1928-29 for the best total by a visiting team Down Under. Scoreboard India (1st innings): Chopra b Lee 45 Sehwag c Gilchrist b Gillespie 72 Dravid lbw b Gillespie 38 Tendulkar batting 220 Laxman b Gillespie 178 Ganguly b Lee 16 Patel batting 45 Extras:
(b-4, lb-5, w-3, nb-24) 36 Total: (5 wkts, 180 overs) 650 Fall of wickets: 1-123, 2-128, 3-194, 4-547, 5-570. Bowling: Brett Lee 36-5-169-2, Jason Gillespie 41-11-112-3, Nathan Bracken 37-13-97-0, Stuart MacGill 38-5-146-0, Stephen Waugh 2-0-6-0, Simon Katich 17-1-84-0, Damien Martyn 9-1-27-0.
— PTI |
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Lean patch a wake-up call: Sachin
Sydney, January 3 Tendulkar may have batted for close to 10 hours for his unbeaten knock to announce his return to vintage form but the Indian batting star said he was still “not tired”. “I have not done much in the series, so I am not really tired,” he said in a lighter vein. Before the start of this Test, the ‘Little Master’ had just 81 runs from three Tests in the series. “I felt this year was not great Test wise. In one-dayers I was okay. I think it was just a coincidence and some bad luck. “(In this series) I needed to hang in there instead of nicking. Getting beaten would have been better.” “A couple of wake-up calls can really help at times,” he said as India batted themselves to a mammoth 650 for five on the second day of the match. Tendulkar, 73 overnight, said he was determined not to get out today. “I did not want to get out come what may. I had decided that I would leave any delivery going outside the off-stump. I wanted to work it out on the legside instead. I waited the whole day to play my on-drives,” said the maestro. India had not “decided much” about their strategy tomorrow, he said but added “we would score some quick runs and then declare. We will not play for long.” “I was happy I could concentrate so well and bat with patience. But the team would like to bat tomorrow and I would do my best to stay as long as possible,” said Tendulkar. While thanking all those who supported him during his lean patch which led to speculation about his falling ability, Tendulkar said he was not too bothered by what the critics had to say.
— PTI |
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Big knocks a coincidence: Laxman
Sydney, January 3 The 29-year-old Laxman smashed 178 of the most classy runs seen in Australia for a long, long time and put on a record 353 runs in company of double-centurion Sachin Tendulkar to perch India on the top with 650 for five. Laxman dedicated his outstanding century, studded with 30 fours, to Australia’s retiring captain Steve Waugh and to his parents who watched him in action. "Steve has been an inspiration in my career and I dedicate this century to him, as well to my father (V. Shantaram) and mother (Satyabhama) who are around to see me in action," said the elegant Hyderabadi batsman. Laxman, who has four big hundreds — 281, 167, 148 and 178 — against Australia, does not think the sight of the world champions gets him going in Test cricket. "It is really satisfying to get runs against the best bowling attack in the world but I think it is just a coincidence (to score the big ones). "It is just one of those things. I like to do well against any opposition and Australia in particular who I have followed with relish when I was coming up as a cricketer." Laxman was at his fluent best today but he still rated the 75 he scored in India’s first innings in the first Test at Brisbane as his best knock of the series. "I batted with good rhythm (today) but if you ask me to pick my innings of the series, I would put my 75 made in the first Test at Gabba as something special," said Laxman. The right-handed batsman studiously avoided pulling or hooking in his innings because Australia, he said, bowled with a set plan. "There were fielders in the deep and I could not have hooked with them around. But I am not cutting down on my shots, if I get a delivery to hook or pull I would do it." Against Australia, Laxman has featured in 300-plus runs partnerships thrice, twice with Rahul Dravid and the one with Tendulkar today. "I respect them both as players and individuals and it is always a great learning experience batting with Sachin. We have had some good partnerships in one-day internationals. "When you are at the non-striker’s end and you are watching the best batsman in the world play, it is an on going learning process for me."
— PTI |
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India toughest rivals: Gilchrist
Sydney, January 3 "This is easily the toughest series I have played at home against a visiting team. When we were in India in 2001, I rated it the toughest series abroad I had been involved in. So in a way, India have been tough opponents both at home and abroad," said the talented keeper. India rattled up 366 runs while losing just two wickets today to take complete control of the series deciding fourth cricket Test with a total of 650 for five. "This is easily the best batting line-up in world cricket, probably in many, many years. It is rare when all the batsmen are firing as well as the Indians are doing in this series." V.V.S. Laxman’s strokeplay during his classic 178 left Gilchrist completely stumped for its sheer beauty and timing. "Everytime he plays against us he comes up with something special and the next thing we read after the series is he is dropped! It leaves me completely bewildered." Gilchrist also praised Sachin Tendulkar who cracked a career-best unbeaten 220. "As for Sachin, well he played like Sachin. He was very disciplined on the first day and denied himself which I would say made him appear tentative. But he was in his groove today and played a marvellous innings." Gilchrist said though he had often stood behind the stumps for two days running, those had been in rather happier times when his side had enforced a follow-on. "It is different standing behind the stumps when your team is doing well and quite opposite when nothing is going your way."
— PTI |
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A flawless batting display Those who have been fortunate enough to pass through the gates this summer have been privy to a number of superb batting performances. In our camp we have seen Justin Langer, Matthew Hayden and Ricky Ponting shine at different stages, whilst for the Indians Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag,
V.V.S. Laxman and Sourav Ganguly have all demonstrated their class. Day Two of this Test match provided fans in Sydney with another demonstration of flawless batting when the Little Master, Sachin Tendulkar combined with Laxman to produce a fine partnership that has given India the momentum and set our side an enormous challenge to remain in the match. Tendulkar obviously set himself for a big innings, and despite a slow start his shot selection and execution was exceptional. Indian fans have no doubt been waiting for him to register a big score this series, but in between their celebrations they should take equal delight at the form of Laxman who has enjoyed an outstanding summer and is quickly establishing himself as one of world cricket’s in-form batsmen. Much of Tendulkar’s success in this innings can be attributed to Laxman who took control, and eased they pressure on his batting partner. Although we were pushing extra hard for a breakthrough, it was hard not to admire the way these two went about their batting, which was highlighted by the manner in which they rotated the strike. When the partnership was finally broken, Sourav Ganguly and Parthiv Patel added some quick runs to ensure that we could not get through to the tail just yet. At the other end, Tendulkar stands undefeated on his highest Test score. From an Australian perspective, we will probably regret some missed opportunities on the first morning of play, but since that time Brett Lee, Jason Gillespie, Nathan Bracken and Stuart MacGill have all toiled hard against an in-form batting line-up. I will admit that our fielding has not been up to the level we expect it to be at, right through this series, which is pretty unfortunate since we are playing some of the most punishing batsmen in the world. We beat the bat a number of times on the first day, but just weren’t able to take the wickets needed to make serious inroads into the Indian batting. It has been tough going, and although we realise that the hope of victory is slim, as long as there are 11 Australians out on the field, we will never give in.
(Gameplan) |
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List of 10 leading
century makers Sydney, January 3
(* match in progress) — Reuters |
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Rohan Gavaskar replaces injured Kaif Kolkata, January 3 Gavaskar was picked by the national selectors, who held a telephonic discussion among themselves here last evening after a second opinion by doctors said that Kaif would not be able to participate in the triangular series involving India, Australia and Zimbabwe, according to a statement issued by the cricket board secretary S.K. Nair. Gavaskar is expected to leave for Australia on Monday as it would take some time to complete his travel formalities, Cricket Board sources said. Kaif, who had been included in the squad, had sustained a right thumb injury during the Kenstar Asian 'A' cricket championship here. The middle order batsman was initially examined by the doctors in the city and it was recommended that, before a final decision in this regard, a second medical opinion on his injury be taken after few days, Nair said. Meanwhile, India ‘A’ cricket captain Hemang K. Badani, all rounder Sanjay Bangar and hard-hitting batsman Yuvraj Singh left for Australia from here today. The three cricketers expressed their happiness to be part of the Indian team for the coming tri-nation series involving Australia and Zimbabawe. Speaking on behalf of the trio, Badani said “We are hopeful of doing well. The Australian wickets on view during the ongoing Test series seem to be rather easy and we should bat well to help our team win the one-day series”. Badani said about his own form “I have been among the runs during the season and I should continue to bat well”. Opening batsmen Akash Chopra and Sadagopan Ramesh, Deep Das Gupta and injured Zaheer Khan, part of the Indian team in the ongoing Test series, would return home. India take on Australia in the first match of the tri-series in Melbourne on January 9.
— PTI |
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Styris leads Kiwis to 4-wicket victory
Auckland, January 3 Man-of-the-match Styris was not out on 101 when New Zealand moved past Pakistan’s total of 229 for seven with five balls remaining. The win seemed out of New Zealand’s reach when it lost three middle order wickets for 15 runs between the 37th and 40th over of its 50-over innings. But Styris, who came at the crease with New Zealand at 35 for two, kept a cool head to see the home side to its first win in six one-day matches against Pakistan. He scored his century from 108 balls, with 10 fours and two sixes, and kept New Zealand in the match when its target run-rate had seemed out of reach. New Zealand, with six wickets down, had needed 44 runs from the last 5 overs, 31 from the last 20 balls, 27 from 18 deliveries and finally 17 with two overs remaining. Pakistan: Hameed b Oram 19 Farhat b Cairns 24 Elahi lbw b Styris 20 Youhana c Stryrisb Oram 5 Malik c McCullum b Styris 4 Inzaman-ul-Haq b Styris1 9 Moin Khan not out 72 Abdul Razzaq run out 22 Azhar Mahmood not out 26 Extras (lb-8 w-10) 18 Total: (7 wkts, 50 overs) 229 Fall of wickets: 1-47, 2-55, 3-60, 4-79, 5-84, 6-120, 7-183. Bowling: Tuffy 10-1-49-0, Oram 10-3-28-2, Cairns 9-1-37-1, Adams 9-0-63-0, Styris 10-3-34-3. Vettori 2-0-10-0. New Zealand: Cumming run out 1 Fleming c Sami b Mahmood 45 Marshal c Yasir b Shabbir 14 Styris not out 101 McMillan C Razzaq b Malik 12 Cairns lbw b Malik 3 Oram c Moin b Razaaq 3 McCullum not out 13 Extras: (lb-16, w-20, nb-2) 38 Total: (6 wkts, 49.1 overs) 230 Fall of wickets: 1-8, 2-35,, 3-102, 4-141, 5-151, 6-156. Bowling: Sami 9.1-1-37-0, Shabbir 10-1-53-1, Mahmood 10-0-35-1, Razzaq 10-0-61-1, Malik 10-1-28-2.
— AFP |
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Gayle leads strong Windies reply
Cape Town, January 3 At the close, West Indies were 178 for one in reply to South Africa’s 532, with Gayle undefeated on 112 and Ramnaresh Sarwan 39 not out. Gayle reached his century off just 79 balls, crashing 19 fours and a six as he raced to three figures and also past 2,000 runs in Tests. His achievement was all the more extraordinary in that he was still recovering from a torn hamstring that almost kept him out of the match. Earlier, wicketkeeper Mark Boucher hit an unbeaten 122 as South Africa reached a total of 532 before being bowled out shortly before the scheduled tea interval.
Scoreboard
South Africa (1st innings): Smith c Lara b Sanford 42 Gibbs c Jacobs b
Rudolph lbw b
Kallis lbw b Sanford 73 Kirsten c Sanford
McKenzie b
Adams b Edwards 0 Boucher not out 122 Pollock c Jacobs b
Ntini c Jacobs b
Nel c Jacobs b Sanford 4 Extras (b-6, lb-12,
Total (all out, 145 overs)
532 Fall of wickets: 1-70, 2-90, 3-162, 4-304, 5-305, 6-305,
Bowling: Drakes 26-7-64-0, Edwards 30-3-132-3, Sanford 37-4-132-4, Smith 2-0-4-0, Mohammed 33-5-112-3, Gayle 10-0-39-0, Hinds 7-2-31-0. West Indies (Ist innings): Gayle not out 112 Ganga b Nel 17 Sarwan not out 39 Extras: (lb-5 nb-5) 10 Total: (1 wkt, 35 overs) 178 Fall of wicket: 1-126. Bowling: Pollock 7-0-46-0, Ntini 9-0-48-0, Nel 8-2-34-1, Kallis 7-1-33-0, Adams 4-0-12-0.
— Reuters |
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IOB, Signals in last 4 Mandi, January 3 Indian Overseas Bank dominated the proceedings from the beginning and took control in the eighth minute when S. Monty netted a field goal. The bank boys continued their attack and Arjunagana added one more goal in the eighteenth minute. Both the teams earned early penalty corners but failed. IOB consolidated the lead through G. Anderson. The IOB lads increased the margin by adding one more goal through Arunagam in the 52nd minute. Jagdeev Singh, captain of the Signals, along with two other players were shown the yellow card. Signals earned a penalty corner in the sixth minute and a long corner a minute later. Signals managed two more penalty corners in the 38th and 39th minutes, respectively, but failed to open their account. ITBP played a defensive game till the breather and were a different team later. In the 52nd minute Sanjay scored goal. Signals will lock horns with Indian Overseas Bank while ITBP will take over EME in the semifinals tomorrow. |
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JCT overpower Churchill 2-1 Margao, January 3 Vijayan, who was in his elements today, showed his class scoring both the goals in the 20th and 69th minutes even as Churchill, who pressed hard in the closing stages to restore parity, pulled one back through a Yusif Yakubu penalty in the 85th minute after Baldip Singh handled the ball inside the box. This was the third win for the Phagwara team, who survived some anxious moments in the closing stage. JCT now have collected 11 points from seven matches while Churchill, who suffered their second defeat, remained on 11 points from as many matches. Referee B K Singh showed yellow cards to Churchill’s Osumanu Husseini and JCT’s Musa Aliu.
— PTI |
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Somdev registers hard-fought win Chennai, January 3 Varman won 4-6 7-5 7-5 after a 218-minute duel. Vishal Punna and Mustafa Ghouse eliminated compatriots Ajay Ramaswamy and Parantap Chaturvedi 6-4 4-6 6-1 and 6-2 6-4, respectively. Varman, who faces fourth seed Danai Udomchoke of Thailand in the next round, played shrewdly.
— PTI Ishan slams 126 Cuttack, January 3 Ishan Malhotra’s 126 and Sandeep Sawal’s 73 put Punjab in a commanding position. Ishan remained at the crease for 135 minutes and hit 16 boundaries and five sixes before being stumped out by Dishant off Vivek Yadav. Sandeep’s 73 included five hours and two sixes. Gourav Marwa contributed 37 S P Singh 25 and opener Amardeep Soanker made 24 runs for Punjab.
— UNI |
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