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Sehwag, Gambhir lead strong Indian reply
Kumble defends Harbhajan, Murali Kartik
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SA cricket chief backs Gibbs, Boje
Coach feels Kiwis can recover
Haryana bundled out for 131
PM flags off car rally
Punjab cops, BP enter semis
Karnal lift roller skating trophy
Punjab Police draw with PSEB in football
Top players for PNB meet
Delhi, MP clinch throwball titles
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Sehwag, Gambhir lead strong Indian reply
Kanpur, November 22 The two openers set the Green Park stadium ablaze with their fireworks to propel India to 185 for no loss in response to South Africa's 510 for nine declared on a fog-hit third day. The two Delhi batsmen not only recorded the highest-ever opening partnership against South Africa but also the highest opening partnership at the Green Park on a highly entertaining day which saw play start late because of a dense fog. Gambhir notched up his maiden Test half century and was batting on 85 and Sehwag was giving him company on an equally belligerent 85 at stumps with India trailing by 325 runs. Play was called off 54 minutes before the revised time of closure due to bad light. This was India's highest opening partnership since the Multan Test against Pakistan in March-April this year and the first time the opening stand crossed the 50 mark in the last six Tests since then. The pair erased the previous opening record against South Africa of Vikram Rathore and Nayan Mongia who put on 90 runs at Johannesburg in 1996-97. The unfinished partnership also took them to the record books as the highest opening partnership at the Green Park which earlier stood in the names of Devang Gandhi and Sadagopan Ramesh who had scored 162 against New Zealand in 1999-2000. The start of the third day's proceedings was delayed by two hours because of a thick fog but Sehwag and Gambhir enthralled the noisy home crowd with some entertaining cricket in the two extended sessions. Both the Indian openers seemed to be in no discomfort at all on a lifeless track at the Green Park stadium as they blunted out the South African pacemen Shaun Pollock and Makhaya Ntini and then plundered runs at will against spinner Robin Peterson who hardly could make much of an impression. Sehwag was in fine nick exhibiting his trademark cover drive and was severe on the loose balls while Gambhir was more circumspect in the initial stages before outpacing his senior partner. Sehwag opened his account with a boundary off Ntini as he went on the back foot and opened the face of his bat to send the ball to the third man fence. The two openers brought 50 runs on the board in 14.5 overs and then brought about the century partnership in 25.4 overs. South Africa's lone specialist spinner Peterson was introduced into the attack in the 16th over in place of Ntini and very nearly got the prized scalp of Sehwag who stepped out and played all over an innocuous delivery. But young wicketkeeper Thami Tsolekile completely missed the ball and the stumping chance went abegging. Earlier, resuming at the overnight score of 459 for seven, South Africa were on the lookout for quick runs when play started after a delay of two hours due to a dense fog which enveloped the city since early morning. The hosts removed overnight batsman Tsolekile (9) in the very second over of the day with veteran leg spinner Anil Kumble trapping him leg before wicket to claim his 430th Test scalp. Kumble emerged the pick of the Indian bowlers with figures of 6 for 131, claiming his 28th five-wicket haul in Tests. The Karnataka bowler is now one wicket away from equalling the Test tally of New Zealand's Sir Richard Hadlee and needs just five more wickets to eclipse Kapil Dev's record of 434 wickets and become India's highest wickettaker. The total was South Africa's highest ever on Indian soil, erasing the previous record of 479 recorded in Bangalore during the 2000-01 series. Scoreboard South Africa (1st innings): Smith b Kumble 37 Hall b Kumble 163 Jaarsveld lbw b Kumble 2 Kallis lbw b Kumble 37 Rudolph b Kumble 0 Dippenaar c Kaarthick de Bruyn c Dravid Pollock not out 44 Tsolekile lbw b Kumble 9 Peterson b Harbhajan 34 Extras
(b-9, lb-22, Total (9 wkts dec, Fall of wickets: 1-61, 2-69, 3-154, 4-154, 5-241, 6-385, 7-445, 8-467, 9-510. Bowling:
Zaheer 29-7-59-0, Ganguly 12-2-45-1, Kumble 54-13-131-6, Harbhajan 44.4-9-127-2, Murali Kartik 42-12-76-0, Tendulkar 9-0-36-0. India (1st innings): Sehwag batting 85 Gambhir batting 85 Extras
(b-4, lb-7, nb-4) 15 Total (no loss in 42 overs) 185 Bowling:
Pollock 13-2-46-0, Ntini 12-0-48-0, Peterson 8-1-43-0, Hall 9-2-37-0.
—PTI |
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Kumble defends Harbhajan, Murali Kartik
Kanpur, November 22 Compared to Kumble’s six-wicket haul in the match, Harbhajan had to be content with the wicket of Robin Peterson after the
office came in for some harsh treatment from South African batsmen. Centurion Andrew Hall had hit him for three sixes yesterday, two in the same over, and Peterson also
hocked him over the boundary this morning. Kartik had a disappointing outing as he returned wicketless. To make it worse, he conceded seven no-balls in the innings. “I think we put in the same amount of labour. But this is a batting wicket and everybody is scoring here. The pitch offered neither turn nor bounce and it was bad luck for them. We all tried our best and by chance, I got wickets and they did not,” said the leggie. Saying that saving the follow-on would be the top priority when Indian batsmen resume their innings tomorrow, Kumble expressed happiness with the show of openers Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, both of whom remained not out on 85 as India finished the day on 185 for no loss. “I hope both get their centuries tomorrow — and it would be the maiden Test century for Gambhir. We are in a good position in the match and I hope to go on from there,” he said. South Africa coach Ray Jennings also heaped praises on the Indian openers. “They played positive cricket and this is something we have not experienced. After seeing them play, it seems we should not have declared in the morning,” he added. “India have a good batting line-up and it was a superb batting display by the openers. It was interesting cricket,” he added. He, however, said he had found out some grey areas in the bowling and would address the issue tonight. When pointed out that while India maintained a run rate well over four, South Africa slowed down to score 510 in more than 190 overs, the South African coach said, ‘’Maybe we were on the slower side a bit. But this is an inexperienced team and they were probably more cautious than you are normally. But I’m happy with the way they went.”
— UNI |
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Kumble tops Test bowling ratings
New Delhi, November 22 In Test bowling ratings, Kumble (199 points) is followed by Stephen Harmison (190) of England and Shane Warne (151) of Australia. Muthiah Muralitharan (142) is at the fourth position. In batting, West Indies captain Brian Lara (138 points) tops the chart, followed by Sanath Jayasuriya of Sri Lanka (130), Kumar Sangakkara (129) and Virender Sehwag (127). In ODI batting, Andrew Symonds leads the field with 96 points followed by Andrew Flintoff (83), Inzamam-ul-Haq (79), Sachin Tendulkar (76) and Marvan Atapattu (75). Chaminda Vaas (159) leads the ODI bowling while Irfan Pathan is second on 149 points. |
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SA cricket chief backs Gibbs, Boje
Kanpur, November 22 Talking to reporters on the sideline of the ongoing first Test here today, Mr Majola said the Board had left no stone unturned to ensure that Boje and Gibbs play in India. “We wanted to cooperate with Delhi Police (investigating into the match-fixing scandal). For six months, we cooperated with them to make sure that the players can turn up. We used our ambassador, our government and even the BCCI. But without the assurance we could not have sent them here,” he said. When asked if that means the cricketers won’t play in India in future without the written assurance, Mr Majola said, “If we don’t have the guarantee from Delhi Police, we have to back our players.” The Board was taking up Boje’s case with Delhi Police and would continue persuing the matter, he said. “Boje answered most of the questions (of the questionnaire sent by Delhi Police). In fact we wanted to play him and he was made the vice-captain of the side. Gibbs also sought legal advice before deciding to pull out,” he said. “We are trying out utmost with the Delhi Police because as far as we know, there is no case against
Boje,” he said. The Board was also trying to schedule five one dayers to be played between India and South Africa next year, he said. Denying allegations of racism and bickering in the side which came here sans a number of seasoned players like Lance Klusener and Mark Boucher, Mr Majola said, “Going by curent form, this is the best possible team. Selectors picked players because of their forms and nothing else.” Claiming that the new system put in place in the post-apartheid South Africa had started yielding results, he, however, assured that injustice won’t be done with white players. “Any white player who performs well in domestic cricket would be picked up,” he said. Talking about Ray Jennings’ performance so far as the new coach of the side, he said it was too early to comment and added the Board was keeping an eye on him.
Whena asked why the Board was not roping in the service of someone like Barry Richards, Mr Majola said, “We can’t force it on anybody. He chose to be a commentator and be
it.”— UNI |
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Coach feels Kiwis can recover
Brisbane, November 22 The Black Caps suffered their second-heaviest defeat in 42 Tests against Australia when they crashed to an innings and 156 run-defeat here yesterday. Stephen Fleming’s team were on top for the first two days of the Gabba Test but a record 216-run sixth-wicket stand between man-of-the-match Michael Clarke (141) and Adam Gilchrist (126) followed by a 114-run last-wicket partnership between tailenders Glenn McGrath (61) and Jason Gillespie (54) turned the match into a four-day canter for the Australians. It now remains to be seen whether New Zealand can pick up the pieces in the space of a few days to be competitive with the Aussies in the second and last Test of the series, starting at the Adelaide Oval on Friday. Australia dominate world cricket and have won 19 of their last 27 Tests over the last two years with just four defeats to India (twice), West Indies and England. The Kiwis last beat Australia by five wickets in Auckland in March 1993. Bracewell, a former Test player, said New Zealand had only small windows of opportunity to seize on if they were to beat Australia, but had to trust their game plans and skills to challenge Ricky Ponting’s men. “When you are playing against class acts and a number of these guys are great cricketers, not just good cricketers but they are establishing records of greatness, there are very small windows of opportunity,” Bracewell said today. “Mental toughness is always something you’ve got to have when you come here and you know you’ve got to be tough to play against the world’s best team. “You know that Adelaide is conducive to scoring runs and you’ve got to be tough in terms of your bowling disciplines in terms of coming back, sticking with the line, hitting the right areas. “You know you have to pick the right balls to score off, stay confident, stay positive and not let the situation get to you and stay with your plan. That’s part of toughness that we all need to beat the best.” New Zealand got themselves into a strong position on the opening two days of the Gabba Test by sticking to their plans, but it all unravelled spectacularly under the counter- attacking ferocity of Clarke and Kiwi nemesis Gilchrist. “We tried to adjust our bowling lengths and we readjusted our strategy but it was a skill factor in terms of being able to execute it over a long periods of time and we got punished,” Bracewell said. “Perhaps the fact that only Chris Martin had bowled against these guys before, the counter-attacking may have become a little bit too much for them.” Asked if the Kiwis were scarred by their monumental loss, skipper Fleming said his bowlers had to stay true with their line and length even when they were under fire from the prodigious-scoring Aussies, who turned around a shaky position of 128 for four chasing 353 to amass 585 and a 232-run innings lead. “It doesn’t do too much (damage) because you expect the best to come hard,” Fleming said today. “Gilchrist has done it to us a number of times because he’s a wonderful player with that ability to counter-punch. “Michael Clarke together with Gilchrist put together a match-winning partnership at a pretty crucial time and they didn’t do it slowly, that’s the damaging aspect because it’s done very quick, so the skill of the opposition side is to adjust and then to reiterate and be precise with them. “If you can slow them up you’ve got a chance, but it’s a tough prospect.” Bracewell said the Kiwis had virtually a full squad from which to choose their team for the second Test.
— AFP |
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Haryana bundled out for 131
Rohtak, November 22 Once Haryana elected to bat after winning the toss, the Punjab medium pacers Bharat Loomba and Amanpreet took complete command of the situation. Striking in the fourth and the 10th overs of the innings, Amanpreet dismissed both the openers cheaply. At one stage Haryana were reeling at 38 fo 4. However, skipper Prem Prateek (21) and number seven batsman Prashant (34) offered some resistance to enable Haryana cross the three-figure mark. Brief scores: Haryana (1st innings): 131 (Prem Prateek 31, Prashant 34, Shrey Choudhrey 19, Bharat Loomba 2 for 49, Amanpreet Singh 5 for 52, Charanjit Singh 2 for 4) Punjab (1st innings): 121 for 2 (Simranjit 28, Simrat Bawa 17, Siddharth Sharma batting 24, Sunny Sohail batting 36. Prem Prateek 1 for 36 and Pawan Bhardwaj 1 for 17). |
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Record-breaking win for Federer
Houston, November 22 Federer fired nine aces and waited through a 78-minute rain delay yesterday to capture his 11th title in an amazing season that included his first US and Australian Open titles and his second consecutive Wimbledon crown. “It’s just an unbelievable end to a fantastic season for me,” Federer said. “This has been kind of a fairy-tale ending for me to again leave for vacation with great feelings and great memories.” Federer’s win streak in championship matches broke the mark he shared with John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg for consecutive finals triumphs. The record run began last year at Vienna. The 23-year-old Swiss star won $ 1.52 million and his 17th match victory in a row since a second-round exit at the Athens Olympics. Federer finished the year 74-6, equal with American Andy Roddick for most match wins this year. There has not been a better winning percentage for a year-end world number one since John McEnroe went 82-3 in 1984. “All the records I broke or equalled or whatever I did this year have just been fantastic,” Federer said. “The last year and a half for me I’ve really started to go like a rocket. This is a great end.” The victory was Federer’s 23rd consecutive triumph over a top-10 foe, a streak that began with his unbeaten 2003 Cup title effort. Federer matched Ivan Lendl’s 1986-1987 feat of unbeaten back-to-back title efforts at the event. “The last year and a half, he has taken it to another level,” Hewitt said. Federer, who never allowed Hewitt a break point, suffered a torn left thigh muscle last month. But the Federer Express showed no sign of slowing as he dominated his highest-rated rivals this week. “I was injured and came back strong and was able to win this title,” Federer said. “It’s almost too much to ask for.”
— AFP |
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PM flags off car rally
Guwahati, November 22 Talking to newsmen today at the local airport, after the ceremonious flag-off ceremony for the prestigious Indo-Asean car rally, Dr Manmohan Singh pointed out that the common minimum programmes (CMP) of his government was committed to attaching top priority to the problems of North-East, including Assam. The Prime Minister urged the people of this region for a cultural resurgence so that a united North-East could play a decisive role in determining the decision-making process in Delhi. The Prime Minister ended his three-day trip to Manipur and Assam by the ceremonius flag-off of the Indo-Asean car rally at Nehru Stadium here today. The car rally will officially begin
tomorrow morning and travel 8,000 km in the next 19 days to reach Indonesia on December 11 to end the show. The car rally was being organised as a goodwill venture between India and its Asean neighbours in the North-East. The car rally, starting from Guwahati, will enter Myanmar through Manipur to finally reach Indonesia via other Asean countries.
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Punjab cops, BP enter semis
New Delhi, November 22 Olympian Baljit Singh Dhillon was the hero of Punjab Police’s victory as he opened the account and then clinched the match-winner with his golden touch. Both of his goals came off penalty corners. But Punjab Police were shaken out of their wits when Namdhari XI took the lead through a brilliant field goal by Anmolak Singh in the sixth minute (1-0). The Cops were then made it sweat it out till they pulled off the equaliser through Baljit Singh Dhillon in the 29th minute. But seconds before half time, Namdhari XI regained their lead when Gurcharan Singh converted a penalty corner (2-1). Once again, Punjab Police had to wage a nervous battle before they could square off through a goal by Gagan Ajit Singh in the 60th minute (2-2). The deadlock continued till the final hooter, and in the seventh minute of extra time, Baljit Singh Dhillon scored off a penalty corner to strike a golden goal (3-2) to take Punjab Police to the semis. Earlier, Bharat Petroleum and Air India fought a tough battle, no quarters asked for and none given, till Len Aiyappa succeeded in scoring off a penalty corner in the 56th minute to get the match-winner. |
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Karnal lift roller skating trophy
Ambala, November 22 In the 12-14 age group, Deepanshu Saini of Faridabad was first, Rajat of Karnal was second while Naman Gupta of Ambala was third. In the 14-16 age group, Ramakant Gupta of Faridabad was first and Deep Chabra of Kurukshetra was second. In the above-16 category, Amit Sharma of Karnal was first, Vishal Sharma of Rohtak was second and Anumeet of Karnal third. In the 10-12 age group (girls), Pratima of Rohtak was first, Kiran of Rohtak was second and Neha Yadav of Hisar was third. In the 12-14 category, Payal Hooda of Rohtak was first and Yashdeep of Rohtak was second. In rink race 4 for boys (8-10 years), Dhanjay of Rohtak was first, Sarthak Ghosh of Gurgaon was second and Atul Sharma of Panipat was third. In the 10-12 age group, Sahil Arya of Rohtak was first, Deep Prabhu of Rohtak was second and Anmol of Ambala was third. In the 12-14 category, Deepanshu of Faridabad was first, Rajat of Karnal was second and Naman Gupta of Ambala was third. In the 14-16 age group, Ramakant of Faridabad was first, Kapil Sharma of Kaithal was second and Deep Chabra of Kurukshetra was third. In the above-16 category, Amit Sharma of Karnal was first, Vishal of Rohtak was second and Anumeet of Karnal was third. In rink race 5 for boys (10-12 years), Sahil Arya of Rohtak was first and Lekh Pal of Rohtak was second. In the 12-14 category, Deepanshu of Faridabad was first, Rajat of Karnal was second and Naman Gupta of Ambala was third. In the 14-16 age group, Ramakant of Faridabad was first and Kapil Sharma of Kaithal was second.In the above-16 category, Amit of Karnal was first, Vishal Sharma of Rohtak was second and Anumeet of Karnal was third. In the 10-12 category for girls, Pratima of Rohtak was first and Kiran of Rohtak was second. In the 12-14 age group, Payal Hooda of Rohtak was first and Divya of Rohtak was second. In road race 2 for boys (8-10 years), Atul Sharma of Panipat was first and Sarthak Ghosh of Gurgaon was second. In the 10-12 category, Deep Prabhu of Rohtak was first, Lekhraj of Rohtak was second and Anmol of Ambala was third. In the 12-14 age group for girls, Yashdeep of Rohtak was first while Divya of Rohtak was second. In roller hockey (sub-junior girls), Yamunanagar was first, Faridabad was second and Sirsa was third. In sub-junior boys, Yamunanagar was first, Kurukshetra was second and Panchkula was third. In junior girls, Panchkula was first and Sirsa was second. In junior boys, Faridabad was first and Yamuna Nagar was second. In senior girls, Sirsa was first, Panchkula was second and Kaithal was third. The speed champions in various categories were: girls (under-6): Prerna Pahwa of Karnal; boys (under-6) Ankit Rana of Karnal; girls (6-8), Tanvi of Panchkula; boys (6-8) Jeevan of Kurukshetra; girls ( 8-10) Sumedha of Karnal; boys (8-10) Anshul of Panchkula; girls (10-12) Naurin of Panchkula and Chitra of Faridabad; boys (10-12) Varun of Faridabad; girls (12-14) Neha of Karnal; boys (12-14) Salil Tripathi of Panipat; girls (14-16) Akshi of Panipat, Poonam of Karnal and Venus of Kurukshetra ; boys (14-16) Rajat of Karnal; girls (above-16) Khushboo Saini of Faridabad; boys (above-16) Surender Sodhi of Panipat. The Commissioner, Ambala Division, Mr Maha Singh, presided over the concluding ceremony. The championship was held in memory of an IAS officer, Sushil Kumar, who died at a young age. An international-level skating rink is likely to be built by the Haryana Government at the War Heroes Memorial Stadium soon. |
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Punjab Police draw with PSEB in football
New Delhi, November 22 Punjab Police topped the group with seven points from three matches to qualify for the semifinals. Simla Youngs took the second place with six points and qualified for the semis. Jammu and Kashmir Bank bowed out with one point. In the semifinals to be played on Wednesday, Punjab Police will take on JCT Academy while Border Security Force will meet Simla
Youngs. Simla Youngs, who trailed by a goal scored for the bank men by foreign players Musibau
Adebayo, hit back to score through Hitender Singh and Dharmender Kharola (two) to emerge winners. In the first match, Punjab Police, despite their territorial domination, could not score as PSEB custodian Bhupinder Singh came up with many superlative saves to foil their forwards. |
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Top players for PNB meet
New Delhi, November 22 The chairman and managing director of the bank, Mr SS Kohli, said competitions would be held in badminton, table tennis, carrom, chess and athletics. He said the bank had organised hockey and basketball events in the Banks Olympiad at Patiala from November 1 to 8. Mr Kohli said the inter-zonal meet would be a preparatory competition for the Banks Olympiad to be held in Kolkata in December. |
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Delhi, MP clinch throwball titles
Chandigarh, November 22 Karnataka also lost in the women’s final, going down to Madhya Pradesh 12-15, 15-3, 12-15. Here also the Punjab eves clinched the third spot. Twentythree states took part in the championship. Mr Kamal Goswami, Secretary-General of the Throwball Federation of India, thanked the chairman of the host association, Mr A.K. Sharma, for the good facilities provided to the teams. Mr Rakesh Pandey, Minister for Science and Technology, Punjab, was the chief guest while the cricket Dronacharya, Mr D.P. Azad, was the guest of honour on the final day. |
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MES club trounce SDSE school Patiala, November 22 Brief scores: MES CC: 141 for 7 (Shivin Goyal 25, Kunal Grover 23, Gaurav Joshi 22 n.o., Dhruv Gupta 16, Ujjwal 10, Amarjeet 3 for 19, Sachin 2 for 16, Partap 1 for 18); and SDSE school: 84 all out (Ashish 21, Surbant 13, Partap 14 n.o., Jaspreet 3 for 20, Sarvesh Kumar 1 for 11, Gaurav Joshi 1
for 21.
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