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Meek surrender by Indian batsmen
Gibbs pulls out, Boucher axed
Bangladesh struggle after Fleming’s double ton |
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India to take on Spain in opener
India beat Canada, redeem medal hopes
Gopi wins Asian Satellite title
Services look to exact revenge
Aslam, Navita badminton champs
BCCI poll: hearing on Nov 30
Jalandhar lads in quarters;
DAV Chd held
Haryana on top against J&K
Suman, Puneet win TT titles
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Meek surrender by Indian batsmen
Nagpur, October 27 After restricting Australia to 398 in their first innings, the Indian frontline batsmen succumbed meekly to leave the home team gasping at 146 for five at close on the second day, still needing 53 runs to avoid the follow on. The battery of Australian pace bowlers, particularly Glenn McGrath who is making his 100th Test appearance, exploited the grassy track at the VCA stadium to rip through the top order on a day which saw the balance tilt heavily in favour of the tourists. Mohammad Kaif (47) and Parthiv Patel (16) did quite well to remain unseparated at stumps with the hosts desperately looking to their lower order batsmen to avoid the ignominy of a follow on. The Indians were reeling at 103 for five at one stage before Kaif and Patel added vital runs to take the score closer to the follow-on target. The Indians did well in the morning session to polish off the Australian tail within an hour but plunged into trouble straightaway as Virender Sehwag (22), Aakash Chopra (9), Sachin Tendulkar (8), VVS Laxman (13) and Rahul Dravid (21) perished cheaply. The failure of the Indian batsmen was inexplicable. If Sehwag's was a case of wrong shot selection, Laxman's was nothing but outrageous. Sehwag struck four boundaries off Gillespie in the very first over he faced but then poked at an outside off delivery from McGrath to give Adam Gilchrist his 250th dismissal in Tests. Laxman returned to the pavilion in similar fashion, striking Gillespie for three fours immediately on arrival before playing a reckless cut off Warne for a simple catch at point. Laxman then had completed the transformation from a tormentor of the Aussies to Warne's bunny, having fallen to the leg spinner fourth time on the trot in the series. Chopra also failed to justify his recall in place of Yuvraj Singh. The right hander showed his staying power but his tendency to turn the blade against the fast bowlers caused his downfall. Gillespie came back strongly from the battering he took from Sehwag and claimed his first wicket when Chopra tried to run him down to third man, only to end up with a regulation catch to Warne at first slip. Sachin Tendulkar, playing his first match in three months, looked less troubled by the elbow injury. But the batting ace could not survive for long as he was rapped on the pads by Gillespie for eight. At the other end, Dravid seemed caught in a shell. The stand-in captain found it difficult to break the shackles placed around him by the relentless Australian fast bowlers. Dravid and Kaif built up a stand of 28 runs in 17.4 overs before the former pushed forward to McGrath and edged to the slip cordon. India struggled right through against a well-planned Australian seam attack and runs had to be really earned, indicated by the accumulation of just 18 runs off 15 overs in the first hour after tea taken with the hosts tottering at 95 for four after 45 overs. In fact, the ball dominated the bat on the second day with only 182 runs being scored in 87 overs while eight wickets fell, including three in the Australian first essay. This was in total contrast to the opening day yesterday when the Aussies rattled up runs at a furious pace and made 362 for seven in 90 overs. Barring Sehwag, initially, and Kaif later who was on the look-out constantly for runs in a judicious manner, the other top-order batsmen went into their shells and ultimately paid the penalty. After
Dravid's departure in the post-tea period, Kaif and the gutsy Patel came together to rally the Indians nicely with the right mix of caution and aggression with Kaif even hoisting Warne, who twice appealed unsuccessfully for leg before the wicket decisions against the righthander, over the straight field for a six. The right hander had also been caught off a no-ball off McGrath, started to walk away before noticing umpire David Shepherds signal and regaining his crease. The duo produced the best partnership of the innings with an unconquered stand of 43 in 24 overs. In the morning, India began well by taking Australia's remaining three wickets for only 36 runs. Zaheer Khan (4-95) struck two blows while Ajit Agarkar gave him good support in the mopping up operation and picked up one wicket. Scoreboard Australia (1st innings): Langer c Dravid b Zaheer 44 Hayden c Patel b Zaheer 23 Katich c Chopra b Kumble 4 Martyn c Agarkar b Kumble 114 Lehmann c Dravid b Kartik 70 Clarke c Patel b Zaheer 91 Gilchrist c and b Kartik 2 Warne st Patel b Kartik 2 Gillespie LBW b Zaheer 9 Kasprowicz c Patel b Agarkar 0 McGrath not out 11 Extras: (b-6, lb-13, nb-8, w-1) 28 Total: (all out in 100.2 overs) 398 FoW: 1-67, 2-79, 3-86, 4-234, 5-314, 6-323, 7-337, 8-376, 9-377. Bowling: Agarkar 23-2-99-1; Zaheer Khan 26.2-6-95-4; Kumble 25-6-99-2; Kartik 20-1-57-3; Tendulkar 6-1-29-0. India (1st innings): Chopra c Warne b Gillespie 9 Sehwag c Gilchrist b McGrath 22 Dravid c Warne b McGrath 21 Tendulkar lbw b Gillespie 8 Laxman c Clarke b Warne 13 Kaif batting 47 Patel batting 16 Extras: (lb-9, nb-1) 10 Total: (5 wkts, 77 overs) 146 FoW: 1-31, 2-34, 3-49, 4-75, 5-103. Bowling: McGrath 20-12-18-2, Gillespie 18-7-47-2, Kasprowicz 18-3-37-0, Warne 21-8-35-1. — PTI
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Gibbs pulls out, Boucher axed
Durban, October 27 The decisions of the two players put to rest speculation over whether they would tour India amidst reports that the duo could be interrogated by Delhi Police over their possible involvement in the match-fixing scandal that rocked the cricket world in 2000. Gibbs declared himself unavailable for the tour while Boje said he would wait for assurance from Indian authorities that he would not be interrogated. Team: Graeme Smith, Nicky Boje, Hashim Amla, Zander de Bruyn, Boeta Dippenaar, Andrew Hall, Jacques Kallis, Makhaya Ntini, Justin Ontong, Shaun Pollock, Jacques Rudolph, Thami Tsolekile, Alfonso Thomas, Martin van Jaarsveld.
— PTI
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Bangladesh struggle after Fleming’s double ton
Chittagong, October 27 Fleming struck 202 in the visiting side’s first innings score of 545 for six declared and Bangladesh were struggling at 82 for three in reply at the MA Aziz Stadium. Opener Javed Omar was unbeaten on 45 as Bangladesh, who lost the opening Test in Dhaka by an innings and 99 runs, still needed another 264 runs to avoid a follow-on. Fleming, who on Tuesday became the most-capped player for New Zealand as well as their highest run-getter in Tests, added another feather to his cap when he touched the 200-run mark. Scoreboard New Zealand (1st innings): Richardson c Rahman b Haque 28 Sinclair b Rafique 23 Fleming c Rahman b Saleh 202 Styris c & b Rafique 89 Astle lbw b Rafique 39 Marshall c Baishya b Haque 69 Oram not out 38 McCullum not out 17 Extras: (b-9, lb-11, w-2, nb-18) 40 Total: (6 wkts decl, 152 overs) 545 FoW: 1-49, 2-61, 3-265, 4-364, 5-447, 6-517 Bowling: Baishya 17-0-82-0, Mushfiqur Rahman 15-1-68-0, Mohammad Rafique 55-12-130-3, Enamul Haque 42-4-142-2, Saleh 19-0-81-1, Ashraful 1-0-5-0, Kapali 3-0-17-0. Bangladesh (1st innings): Iqbal c Styris b Vettori 13 Omar batting 45 Ahmed lbw Vettori 20 Saleh c Sinclair b Wiseman 2 Extras: (nb-1, w-1) 2 Total: (3 wkts, 32.3 overs) 82 FoW: 1-34, 2-66, 3-82 Bowling: Jacob Oram 5-0-20-0, James Franklin 3-0-14-0, Daniel Vettori 13-7-23-2, Paul Wiseman 11.3-25-1. — AP
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India to take on Spain in opener
New Delhi, October 27 India, who qualified for the elite six-nation competition after Olympic champions Australia pulled out citing security reasons, would clash against Holland, Germany and arch-rivals Pakistan in the league phase on December 5, 7 and 8. The side, which had finished seventh at Athens, would play its last league match against New Zealand on December 10, according to the schedule released by the International Hockey Federation (FIH). The lung opener would be held between New Zealand and Olympic silver medallists Holland. The classification matches including the final of the nine-day tournament would be played on December 12. The schedule: Dec 4:
New Zealand vs Holland, India vs Spain, Pakistan vs Germany Dec 5 -- Holland vs
India, Germany vs Spain, New Zealand vs Pakistan. Dec 7: Spain vs New Zealand, Pakistan vs Holland, India vs Germany. Dec 8:
Holland vs Spain, Germany vs New Zealand, Pakistan vs India. Dec 10:
Spain vs Pakistan, New Zealand vs India, Holland vs Germany Dec 12 -- Classification matches for 1-6 places.
— PTI |
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India beat Canada, redeem medal hopes
Mallorca, October 27 World rapid champion Viswanathan Anand boosted the confidence of a rather struggling Indian team after 10th round loss against Cuba and defeated Pascal Charbonneau quite easily on the top board after Surya Shekhar Ganguly had already given the team an early lead. On the second board, Krishnan Sasikiran was held to a draw by Mark Bluvshtein but Sandipan Chanda gave India a much-needed victory on the fourth board against Yan Teplitsky after a hard-fought game. Meanwhile at the real top, the equation did not change much as Ukraine strengthened their position with a 3-1 victory over Cuba and took their tally to 32 points out of a possible 44. Russia remained on the second spot after beating the USA 2.5-1.5 and they now trail the leaders by 2.5 points. Armenia kept their third position intact with an easy 2.5-1.5 victory over Switzerland and moved to 29 points while Israel stand sole fourth on 28 after comprehensively beating Azerbaijan 3-1. Aided by the big victory, India jumped to joint fifth spot on 27.5 along with the USA and there is a realistic chance to be among medals for them. Just three rounds remain in the biggest chess event. Eves lose medal hopes
Indian eves suffered a disappointing 0.5-2.5 loss against Georgia and were thrown almost out of medal contention after the 11th round. The Indian women were hit badly by enterprising Georgians as former world champion Maia Chiburdanidze capitalised on a rare blunder by Koneru Humpy and won a long-drawn encounter on the top board while Nana Dzagnidze outplayed S Vijayalakshmi on the second after Dronavalli Harika had done her bit on the last board by holding higher-rated Lela Javakhishvili. The Chinese women inched closer to the title with an easy 1.5-1.5 draw with Hungary with all boards signing peace. Taking their tally to 26, China still maintains a clear four-point lead over nearest rivals Georgia and look set to retain the title.
— PTI |
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Gopi wins Asian Satellite title
Hyderabad, October 27 Gopichand thrashed compatriot J B S Vidyadhar Rao 15-6 15-1 in the men's singles final to romp home with the title. The women's singles title went to Soratja Chansruisukto of Thailand, who defeated compatriot Meemek Monthila 11-9, 11-3. A beaming Gopichand said the victory had given him a "good boost" and he would now be playing in the Singapore Open next month. With this win Gopichand gained 200 points in international rankings. Gopichand and Vidyadhar, who know each other's game very well, dished out some quality game, which however was marred by arguments with the chair umpire. In the first game, despite some quality shots from Vidyadhar, Gopichand steadily reached 13-1 when some slackness sneaked into the 31-year-old champion and the youngster smashed his way to pick up five more points. But Gopichand regrouped to settle the issue at 15-6. Changing strategy in the second game, Vidyadhar succeeded in drawing Gopichand from one flank to the other and attacking the vacant end with cross court smashes. But a heated argument with the chair umpire when the score read 4-1 in favour of Gopi, broke the tempo of the game. Then onwards, it appeared the players were merely going through the motions. Gopi went on to win the game and the match at 15-1, his first title win after coming out of a nearly nine-month hibernation.
— PTI |
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Services look to exact revenge
New Delhi, October 27 Punjab will take on defending champions Manipur in the second semifinal on October 29. Seedings have held good, barring Punjab, who upset the calculations of last year’s semifinalists Goa to sail into the last four. Kerala had got the better of Services in last year’s semifinal at Imphal, but lost to hosts Manipur 1-2 via a disputed ‘golden goal’ in the final. Services have played no-frills
football in the group A quarterfinal league, crushing Uttar Pradesh 3-0 and upsetting 29 times champions Bengal 2-1, to enter the semifinals. Runners-up Kerala also started impressively in group C, derailing Railways 4-1, but then hit a roadblock against hosts Delhi, before escaping with a 2-1 win. The Kerala-Services contest is likely to generate much sparks. The domicile rule adopted by the All India Football Federation (AIFF), which allows states to call for their players doing duty for clubs elsewhere in the country, has offered a level-playing field but at Bengal’s cost. Top players donning colours of East Bengal, Mohun Bagan and Mohammedan Sporting return to their home states for the Santosh Trophy, draining Bengal of top talent. No wonder, Bengal have not won the Santosh Trophy since the domicile rule was implemented around six years ago. But a state like Kerala seem to be flush with talent as they could not only afford to keep out stars like IM Vijayan and Joe Paul Ancheri, but did not feel the need to seek the services of players doing services for clubs outside the state, barring a few exceptions. Six key players of Services belong to Kerala, and KV Danesh of Punjab also hails from the state. That Manipur could dispense with the services of an outstanding goalkeeper like Kameshwar Singh of Punjab also speaks about the flush of talent in the state. Kameshwar Singh has kept the Punjab goal efficiently, conceding just one goal in five matches. Kerala, who first lifted the Santosh Trophy in 1973, defeating Railways 3-2 at the Maharaja’s College stadium in Kochi, have finished runners-up since 2000. They are keen to change the image of being the ‘second best’, and former Indian stopper back PV Sathyan, who is now a national selector, predicts a Kerala-Punjab final. Punjab have been the most impressive, scoring 20 goals, and holders Manipur will find it difficult to negotiate their long passes and robust defence. Punjab coach Parminder Singh has an ace up his sleeve to contain the fast-moving, short-passing Manipur team. Gurjit Singh Atwal has scored nine goals, including a hat-trick, to emerge as the top scorer while Delhi striker Sunil Chetri and Karnataka’s SK Dayanand have scored six goals each. Chetri’s goals include three-in-a-row against Gujarat in the opening quarterfinal league match. Narendra Singh of Manipur has scored four goals, including a hattrick. The championship has so far witnessed 177 goals in 48 matches, out of which 134 goals came off 36 preliminary cluster ties. Organising secretary NK Bhatia said the man of the match award in the semifinals would carry a cash prize of Rs 7,500 and Rs 10,000 for the final. Doordarshan will telecast the final live while the semifinals will have only deferred telecasts, due to the cricket Test. |
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Parnita Garewal returns par card
Chandigarh, October 27 Parnita set the trend by scoring birdies on the second and eighth holes to finish with two-under after the first nine. The back nine saw her hitting bogeys on two holes (11th and 16th). But then she missed strokes on the 10th and 14th and had a double bogey on the 13th. She finished with the best card (72). Yesterday’s leader Anjali Chopra slipped to third spot as she returned a five over card of 77 today. Second-placed Shalini Malik had a one-over card. This enabled her to take the top spot. The silver division saw no change. Pikka P. Singh leads that division with young Preetinder just two strokes behind. In bronze division there was a lot of upheaval. Manashi Ghose of Kolkata jumped to the first position and Apurva was at the second spot. The defending champion Irina Brar slipped to the fifth spot after the second round of the championship which is sponsored by Bank of Punjab. The results: Overall champion: Shalini Malik 148, Parnita Garewal 149, Anjali Chopra 151. Silver-Salver (0-12): Nett — Shalini Malik 142, Parnita Garewal 143, Nitika Jadeja 143. Challenge Bowl (13-24): Gross — Pikka P. Singh 175, Preetinder Kaur 177, Laverry Kumar 178; Nett — Pikka P. Singh 141, Laverry Kumar 142, Manichander 149. Bronze Plate (25-36): Gross — Manashri Ghose 204, Apurva Gupta 206, Deepu Dhanoa 207; Nett — Apurva Gupta 146, Mawashri Ghose 154, Arshia Singh 154. Junior shield: Bhavna Shetty 152, Vaishavi Sinha 155, Nitika Jadeja 161. Sub junior
(Gross): Vaishavi Sinha 155, Sharmila Nicollet 167. Seniors: Lalita Balasubrami 160, Harinder Sandhu 198, Rina Sen 198. |
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Aslam, Navita badminton champs
Sangrur, October 27 The boys final between Aslam and top seed Navdeep Singh of Jalandhar was a pulsating affair which Aslam won 6-15, 15-4, 17-16. The match lasted more than one hour. Navdeep, who was considered hot favourite to win the title, won the first game easily at 15-6. He hardly gave his opponent any time to settle down. Being a slow starter, Aslam took his time to settle down comfortably won second game 15-4. The final game was full of excitement with both the players playing well. It was a treat to see both the players playing long rallies with fine net placements and powerful smashes. A huge crowd, which has gathered to witness the final, went back home fully satisfied. Navdeep took an early lead of 7-0 and it appeared that all is over for Aslam. But Aslam, a great fighter, came back strongly to take a lead of 10-7 with his powerful smashes and accurate drops. Once again it was the turn of Navdeep, who took seven consecutive points to make it 14-7. Only one more point and Navdeep could have been the winner. But Aslam had other plans and he equalised the score 14-14 and then went on to make it 16-14. They were again tied up at 16-16 and service changed hands many time ultimately it was Aslam who finished the game with a powerful smash winning 17-16. The president of the district badminton association, Mr Hussan Lal, announced a reward of Rs 5000 for Aslam. Junior girls singles was won by Navita Thakur of Jalandhar. She defeated Sehar Chadda of Amritsar in three well-fought games 2-11, 11-2, 11-4. Gurbax Singh and Raj Kumar of Ludhiana won the boys double title defeating Kunal and Arjun of Amritsar 15-1, 15-2. Girls double title went to Sukhman and Komalpreet of Patiala who defeated Heena and Sehar of Jalandhar and Amritsar 7-15, 15-13, 15-3. |
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BCCI poll: hearing on Nov 30
New Delhi, October 27 A Bench, headed by Mr Justice N Santosh Hegde fixed the date on the request of the counsel for Madras-based Netaji Cricket Club (NCC) and BCCI when they pleaded for fixing a specific day for the final disposal of the case. The verdict in the case is eagerly awaited in the cricket circle as the apex court while admitting the BCCI appeal against the Madras High Court order in the case on October 11, had indicated that it might order fresh election to the BCCI if any “irregularity” was proved. The High Court in an interim order on NCC’s petition had restrained newly elected BCCI President Ranbir Singh Mahendra and other office bearers from taking charge of their office and appointed former Supreme Court Judge S Mohan as Board’s Administrator to look into its affairs. However, the Supreme Court had stayed the High Court order as well as the appointment of former BCCI President Jagmohan Dalmiya as its patron. NCC in its petition before the Madras High Court had challenged Mahendra and other office bearers’ election on the ground that some representatives of state associations were “illegally” prevented from voting, while others were allowed to cast their vote “wrongly”. |
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Jalandhar lads in quarters;
DAV Chd held
New Delhi, October 27 Both the sides registered identical wins, by 5-1 margin, earning their places in the last eight of the tournament being played at the Shivaji Stadium. Sajjan Singh and Satish Lama scored a brace each while Sandeep Antil sounded the board once in Delhi school's win over Raja Dumbra Singh High School, Imphal in Pool II. Joychand Singh scored the lone goal for the losers. In Pool III, the Jalandhar outfit beat Kamlakar Chaube Adarsh Vidyalaya, Varanasi, after Daler Singh scored twice and Kulbir Singh, Jatinder Singh and Ashok Kumar slammed home once each. Ashish Sangar scored the consolation goal for the school from Uttar Pradesh. In another match today, NCC, Bangalore, came from behind to hold DAV Senior Secondary School, Chandigarh, to a 2-2 draw. Ajit Singh and Hamek Singh's strike gave DAV the lead twice but the Bangalore school neutralised the lead through Hari Govindam's two goals in a space of five minutes.— PTI
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Haryana on top against J&K
Rohtak, October 26 Resuming their first innings from 112 for no loss in reply to Jammu and Kashmir’s first
innings total of 160, Haryana were all out at 255. At draw of stamps today visitors were struggling at 132 for 6 in their second essay facing the threat of an outright defeat. Earlier, Haryana’s middle and lower order failed to consolidate their position after being given a solid start. Overnight unbeaten pair of openers Amit Jangra (50 runs, 142 minutes, 118 balls, 7x4s) and Abhimanyu Khod (87 runs, 188 balls, 178 minutes 14x4s) carried the Haryana total to 141 when the hosts lost the first wicket. Leg spinner Manik Gupta provided the vital breakthrough by dismissing Amit Jangra. Wicket fell at regular interval thereafter. Skipper Sumit Kundu displayed some confidence and scored 34. J&K medium pacer Shahid Hussain accounted for the dismissal of 5 Haryana batsmen giving away just 33 runs. Manik Gupta bagged four wickets after conceding 120 runs. With the help of 67-run unbeated knock from the blade of Jammu & Kashmir opener Divya Partap, visitors managed to gain a lead of 37 runs but not before losing their six second innings wickets. Brief scores Jammu & Kashmir (Ist Inning): 160. Haryana (First Innings):
255 (Amit Jangra 50, Abhimanyu Khod 87, Sumit Kundu 34, Shahid Hussain 5 for 33, Manik Gupta 4 for 120). Jammu and Kashmir (2nd Innings): 132 for 6 (Divya Partap batting 67, Sadiq Ul Mehandi 27, Tomar 2 for 34, J. Yadav 2 for 30). |
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Suman, Puneet win TT titles
Rohtak, October 26 Sarvjit Ahluwalia emerged the champion in the veterans section, beating Raj Sharma 3-0. while Rajiv Khurana finished third. Suman defeated Anchal (of Sirsa) 3-0 for the sub-juniors girls title while in the boys cadet category Neeraj defeated Hasin of Gurgaon 3-0. The results: Sub-jr girls: quarterfinals: Shafali (Panchkula) b Akansha (Rohtak) 3-1; Suman (Sirsa) b Mukesh (Bhiwani) 3-0; Meenakshi (Bhiwani) b Anshu (Sirsa) 3-0; Anchal (Sirsa) b Aashta (Bhiwani) 3-0. Semifinals: Suman (Sirsa) b Saifali (Panchkula) 3-2; Anchal (Sirsa) b Meenakshi (Bhiwani) 3-0. Finals: Suman (Sirsa) b Anchal (Sirsa) 3-0. Sub-jr boys: semifinals: Puneet Yadav (Gurgaon) b Lalit (Gurgaon) 3-2; Neeraj (Sirsa) b Hemant (Faridabad) 3-1 Final: Puneet Yadav (Gurgaon) b Neeraj (Sirsa) 3-0. Cadet boys semifinals: Neeraj (Sirsa) b Parsoon (Panchkula) 3-0; Hasin (Gurgaon) b Saurabh (Rohtak) 3-0; Finals: Neeraj (Sirsa) b Hasin (Gurgaon) 3-0. Cadet girls: semifinals: Saifali (Panchkula) b Anchal (Sirsa) 3-2; Anshu (Sirsa) b Niharika (Bhiwani) 3-0. Finals: Saifali (Panchkula) b Anshu (Sirsa) 3-0. |
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Nagpur, October 27
Chittagong, October 27
