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Dravid, Gambhir put India in command
Kasprowicz wrecks Pakistan
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BMFC enter Shastri football final
Softball nationals from Dec 27
Chirag pips Jasjeet to the post
Sahgal Studs win in Patiala Cup polo
Capt to take part in polo match
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Dravid, Gambhir put India in command
Chittagong, December 17 Left-handed opener Gambhir (139) cracked his maiden Test hundred and vice-captain Dravid his 18th to become the first batsman ever to score centuries in all 10 Test-playing countries as India reached 334 for two at close on the first day. Dravid was unbeaten on 145 with Sachin Tendulkar 36 not out at the other end at close on the opening day, but it was Gambhir’s rollicking innings that put the team on a roll after Sourav Ganguly elected to bat on a pitch that shone like marble in the morning sun. While the Indians made merry with their top order batsmen feasting on the easy paced track at the M.A. Aziz Stadium, it turned out to be a day of hard toil for the hosts. Dravid’s century also meant that he surpassed Dilip Vengsarkar (17 centuries) to perch himself on the fourth place in the list of most century makers for India, behind Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar (both 34) and Mohammad Azharuddin (22). Gambhir slammed 19 fours during his 196-ball knock that compensated for his cheap dismissal in the first Test, when he was run out after a mix-up with Tendulkar in Dhaka. His opening partner Virender Sehwag was the only batsman to miss out on the party when he edged Mashrafe Mortaza to Habibul Bashar at first slip in the fifth over. But Gambhir’s unrestrained shotmaking quickly took this initiative away from the hosts and his partnership for the second wicket with Dravid, worth 223 runs from 346 balls, negated Bangladesh’s early advantage. Dravid was content to allow his younger partner enjoy the limelight, but smoothly accelerated to his 18th hundred with 14 fours from 196 balls and 226 minutes. Bangladesh celebrated their 34th Independence Day yesterday, but there was no light at the end of the tunnel for the beleaguered Test minnows as the Indians sent them on a leather hunt. The bowlers struggled to find the right line and length on a pitch that promised tons of runs while the fielders failed to lift their standards and conceded quite a few extras. Mortaza lacked support at the other end as 17-year-old Nazmul Hossain, making his maiden Test appearance, which also turned out to be his first-class debut, failed to impress much, although he did succeed in bowling out Gambhir later in the day. Medium-pacer Talha Jubair, playing his first match after a gap of nearly 14 months following an injury, proved no better while left-arm spinners Mohammad Rafique and Manjural Islam Rana acted as mere cannon fodder for the marauding Indians. From the moment Gambhir struck four fours off right-arm pacer Jubair early in the innings, it became clear that the hosts were in for a long day at office. The Delhi batsman reached his 50 with a boundary to the point fence from 60 balls with 10 fours and kept playings his strokes without inhibitions. The left-hander was severe on Rafique, whom he repeatedly drove through the on side. Gambhir, who had got out on 96 against South Africa at Kanpur earlier this season, was not to be denied his hundred today. A single to mid off gave his first Test hundred and the youngster celebrated with some fist-pumping. Dravid was solid as usual and he played a sensible knock, leaving the run-making mostly to Gambhir, but also not wasting the loose balls, which were plenty on offer today. The century helped Dravid break a bad patch and gave him his first century this season in eight Tests. His driving was impeccable and although he looked tired towards the end of the day, he retained the concentration to play some sweep and pull shots. Tendulkar, who scored his record 34th century in Dhaka, seemed to continue from where he left as he struck six fours to race to 36 from 54 balls. The run rate hovered around four throughout the day and probably dipped a bit after the dismissal of Gambhir. The Indians retained the team that won the first Test by an innings and 140 runs in Dhaka while the hosts made three changes. Seventeen-year old Nazmul Hossain came in for medium-pacer Tapash Baisya, who was down with a sore back, for his maiden Test appearance. Aftab Ahmed and Talha Jubair replaced Rajin Saleh and Mushfiqur Rahman. Scoreboard
India (1st innings) Sehwag c Bashar b Mortaza 10 Gambhir b Hossain 139 Dravid batting 145 Tendulkar batting 36 Extras (b-1, w-2, nb-1) 4 Total (2 wkts, 90 overs) 334 Fall of wickets: 1-14, 2-273 Bowling: Mashrafe Mortaza 16-3-38-1, Nazmul Hossain 16.3-3-66-1, Talha Jubair 14-1-72-0, Mohammad Rafique 27-1-94-0, Manjural Islam Rana 12.3-0-49-0, Aftab Ahmed 4-0-14-0.
— PTI |
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Kasprowicz wrecks Pakistan
Perth, December 17 At stumps on the second day, Australia were 15 without loss in its second innings — an overall lead of 217 — with Matthew Hayden (7) and Justin Langer (3) surviving three overs before the close. Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Sami held the Pakistani line-up together with bat and ball, taking a wicket each in the first session to wrap up Australia’s innings at 381 and then combining for an invaluable 60-run rearguard partnership after the top order collapsed. They batted together for 105 minutes, boosting Pakistan from 111 for eight to 171 while a frustrated Ricky Ponting rotated his bowlers trying to pick up the last two wickets. Akhtar had a major reprieve on 27, with Pakistan on 167-8, when Ponting dropped a regulation chance at second slip off Glenn McGrath. But Akhtar didn’t add to his score before getting an edge to Shane Warne at first slip in McGrath’s next over. Needing 182 to avoid the follow-on, Pakistan were all out three runs short when Sami swiped at Kasprowicz and miscued to Michael Clarke, who took a running catch over his shoulder at backward point. The final wicket gave Kasprowicz his fourth five-wicket haul in Tests. He returned 5-30 in 16.3 overs, while Shane Warne had figures of 3-38. McGrath and Jason Gillespie picked up a wicket apiece. Ponting gave his bowlers a break by electing not to enforce the follow-on. But that didn’t give the Pakistani pacemen any break. Akhtar bowled one full over and three in his next before he limped off the field in the over before stumps. Earlier today, Akhtar (5-99) took his 10th five-wicket haul in Tests when he dismissed Kasprowicz in the second over of the morning. Sami then picked up the wicket of Langer (191) to end the Australian innings at 381. Langer, 181 overnight, fell nine runs short of posting double hundreds in back-to-back Tests when he slashed at Sami and got a thick edge to Younis Khan at backward point. He stroked 19 boundaries and clobbered three sixes in his 21st Test century. He started the match with 1,138 runs this year and overtook Brian Lara (1,178) as the leading Test scorer in 2004. Scoreboard
Australia (1st innings) Langer c Younis b Sami 191 Hayden lbw Shoaib 4 Ponting b Sami 25 Martyn c Akmal b Sami 1 Lehmann b Shoaib 12 Clarke c Haq b Shoaib 1 Gilchrist b Razzaq 69 Warne c Youhana b Razzaq 12 Gillespie c Akmal b Shoaib 24 Kasprowicz lbw Shoaib 4 McGrath not out 8 Extras: (b-1, lb-14, w-5, nb-10) 30 Total: (all out, 90.5 overs) 381 Fall of wickets: 1-6, 2-56, 3-58, 4-71, 5-78, 6-230, 7-253, 8-333, 9-362. Bowling:
Shoaib 22-1-99-5, Sami 25.5-3-104-3, Khalil 16-0-59-0, Razzaq 12-0-55-2, Kaneria 15-2-49-0. Pakistan (1st innings) Butt c Gilchrist b Kasprowicz 17 Farhat c Gilchrist b Gillespie 18 Younis c Gillespie b Warne 42 Haq b Kasprowicz 1 Youhana c Gilchrist Razzaq b Warne 21 Akmal b Kasprowicz 2 Sami c Clarke b Kasprowicz 29 Khalil b Warne 0 Shoaib c Warne b McGrath 27 Kaneria not out 6 Extras: (b-1, lb-3, w-7, nb-4) 15 Total: (all out, 77.3 overs) 179 Fall of wickets: 1-32, 2-45, 3-55, 4-60, 5-108, 6-110, 7-110, 8-111, 9-171. Bowling: McGrath 19-7-44-1, Gillespie 14-2-43-1, Kasprowicz 16.3-6-30-5, Warne 21-9-38-3, Lehmann 4-2-5-0, Ponting 3-1-15-0. Australia (2nd innings) Langer not out 3 Hayden not out 7 Extras: (lb-5) 5 Total: (no wicket, 3 overs) 15 Bowling: Shoaib 1.3-0-5-0, Sami 1-0-4-0, Razzaq 0.3-0-1-0.
— AP |
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Shoaib fined for aggressive gesture
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Rudolph keeps SA afloat
Port Elizabeth, December 17 The left-handed Rudolph batted for almost four hours, faced 180 balls and hit 12 fours. Boeta Dippenaar was 41 not out in an unbroken fourth-wicket stand of 98. South Africa lost captain Graeme Smith without a run on the board when he steered the second ball of the match, a wide delivery from fast bowler Matthew
Hoggard, to Andrew Strauss at third slip. Rudolph then scored the first run off the fourth ball of the first over with a risky squirt just past Graham Thorpe at short leg. But Rudolph and debutant opener AB de Villiers soon settled, and they found runs easy to come by on a placid pitch as Michael Vaughan attacked with three slips and two gullies. Rudolph and De Villiers added 63 for the second wicket before they were separated 40 minutes before lunch when De Villiers went back to a delivery from fast bowler Andrew Flintoff and was trapped in front for
28. Harmison, the world’s top ranked fast bowler, showed flashes of aggression but was inconsistent in his opening spell of five
overs, conceding 28 runs. But he returned 30 minutes before lunch and bowled Kallis with a late swinging attempted yorker that hit the base of the off stump. Rudolph and
Dippenaar, though, scored fluently as the ball softened and the England attack wilted in temperatures forecast to reach 36°C. On 68, Rudolph attempted to work a delivery from left-arm spinner Ashley Giles to leg and sent a sharp chance through the fingertips of Strauss at forward short leg. That was the only scare for Rudolph and Dippenaar as they guided South Africa through a wicketkless second session. Giles bowled tightly on a leg-stump line in conceding 24 from 14
overs. Scoreboard
South Africa (1st innings) Smith c Strauss b Hoggard 0 De Villiers lbw Flintoff 28 Rudolph batting
84 Kallis b Harmison 0 Dippenaar batting 41 Extras (lb-3, nb-5, w-3) 11 Total (3
wkts, 56 overs) 164 Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-63, 3-66. Bowling: Hoggard 10-2-30-1, Harmison 12-1-48-1, S. Jones 10-2-30-0, Flintoff 10-2-29-1, Giles 14-6-24-0.
— AFP |
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Punjab Police, PSB settle for draw
Jalandhar, December 17 In the first league match of the day, the bank men opened their account in the 17th minute when Jatinderpal Singh converted a penalty stroke. Both teams made attempts to score, but to no avail. The bank team was leading 1-0 at half time. In the second half, the cops equalised when Daljeet Singh scored a field goal. In the 57th minute, Punjab and Sind Bank consolidated the lead when Jatinder converted a penalty corner. Just three minutes before the final whistle, Baljeet Singh of Punjab Police converted a penalty corner for the equaliser. The match between Malaysian XI and BSF was played at very fast pace. It was the foreign team which took the lead in the 25th minute when Baljit Singh converted a penalty corner. In the 54th minute, BSF scored the equaliser through Mukhjinder Singh, who converted a penalty corner. In the 66th minute, Baljeet of Malaysian XI again struck through a penalty corner to win 2-1. In the last match, which was played in the boys section, Surjit Academy beat Escorts XI 2-1. The scorers for the winning team were Shamsher Singh and Harbir Singh. |
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Rahul wins Lanka subjunior golf title
Chandigarh, December 17 The championship was held at Par 71 Royal Colombo Golf Club as part of it’s 125th anniversary celebrations. The Indian subjunior team was represented by Rahul Bakshi of Chandigarh and Amanjyot Singh of Jaipur based on Indian Golf Union’s merit list. The first day leader was Amanjyot Singh who played a round of 73 closely followed by Rahul Bakshi at 74. Binupa Wijesinghe of Sri Lanka was third with a score of 76. The second day belonged to Rahul as he fired five birides for a round of 71 and the leaders had switched places with Amanjyot shooting a round of 77 closely followed by Binupa who improved his scoring and finished the round at 75. The final round started with Rahul leading by five strokes and he never allowed the margin to get closer than that. He completed a bogey-free front nine. Amanjyot meanwhile was locked in a battle for the runner-up position with Binupa who had taken over the second position at the turn. The back nine quickly settled things and Rahul’s lead over Amanjyot increased to 12 strokes as Rahul and Binupa completed the final round with identical scores of 75 for the day. This was Rahul Bakshi’s second win in less than a month. In early December he had won the Eastern India Subjunior Tournament held at Tollygunj Golf Course, Kolkata. He is receiving golf training from Jassi Grewal. Final scores: Rahul Bakshi (74+71+75), Binupa Wijesinghe (76+75+75), Amanjyot Singh (73+77+82). |
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BMFC enter Shastri football final
New Delhi, December 17 In a close contest, BMFC slotted in the match-winner through Sagar Thapa, who made use of a goal-mouth scramble to find the mark in the 63rd minute. BMFC suffered an early setback when the fulcrum of their attack, Innocent, suffered a major injury in the first quarter of the first half, and left the field. Thereafter, it was a hard task for the Mumbai club to maintain their aggressive tempo, though they were lucky to hit home the vital goal when their shots were going astray. BMFC forced many scoring opportunities, but Pun Yuvraj and Shhabir Ali came a cropper with their shots. For Mohammedan Club, Rana Guha and Reazul Mustafa tested the Mumbai defence with stiff shots, but could not hit the target. Mohammedan Club were on the prowl, particularly after BMFC scored the goal, but the rival defence protected the slender lead to emerge victorious. |
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Softball nationals from Dec 27
Chandigarh, December 17 Addressing a press conference here today, CASA president S.S. Dhillon said 28 teams from various states and union territories and Indian Oil Corporation and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited would compete for top honours. All affiliated units had confirmed their participation. The matches would be conducted at the grounds of Punjab Engineering College, Sector 12. The Softball Association of India had appointed Mr Laxman Singh Gehlot as competition director. According to information received by the CASA, the competitions, both in men and women, would be played on league-cum-knockout basis. The teams would be divided into eight groups for preliminary round competitions. Two teams from each group would advance to the next round. Four teams would qualify for the super league. The two top teams would cross swords for the team trophy while the remaining two teams in the super league would meet for the third place. Rajasthan would defend their title in the men’s section. Punjab would try their best to improve their position from runners-up in the last edition of the nationals held in 2003 at Jaipur. Punjab women would defend their title. Madhya Pradesh were runners-up at last year’s nationals. Mr Dhillon said the CASA had written a letter to the Sports Authority of India to depute a medical team of the anti-doping committee for taking samples of the participants as per their rules and regulations for analysis at the SAI laboratory in New Delhi. |
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Chirag pips Jasjeet to the post
New Delhi, December 17 Jasjeet finished one stroke behind at 290. AS Lehal of Chandigarh ended up third with a four-day total of 293 while Simarjeet Singh took the fourth position one stroke behind Lehal. Jasjeet began the day at the top of the leader board, four strokes ahead of Chirag. However, too many errors soon negated his lead.
— OSR |
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Sahgal Studs win in Patiala Cup polo
Patiala, December 17 The Army Green team started with a two- goal advantage which was neutralised by Sahgal Studs in the first chukker itself. For the winners, ace polo player Simran Shergill demonstrated fine control over the pony and the ball to hog the spotlight for most part of the match. Like Shergill, Shamsheer Ali, too, made repeated inroads into the rival defence to notch up eight goals. In the second match, Army Red galloped past a gallant Royal Kashmir Quila Mubarik by registering a 5-3.5 victory. The scorers for the winners were Major GS Pandher (2), Major Tarun Sirohi (2) and Major Atul Gupta (1). Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, watched both matches.
— OSR |
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Capt to take part in polo match Patiala, December 17 The Chief Minister, who is pushing 61 years, has not played polo in years. Residents of the city remember last seeing him on a horse during a polo match in the city in 1985, when he was a minister is the Barnala Cabinet. The thrill of the ride seems to have got to the Chief Minister who has been one of the keenest spectators of the sport ever since the polo season started in the city with a match between the teams from Pakistan Punjab and Indian Punjab earlier this month. The Chief Minister watched both polo matches played as part of the round robin league at the new polo ground, which has come up alongside the aerodrome on the outskirts of the city. Today’s matches were between Royal Kashmir Quila Mubarak and Sahgal Studs; and Army Red and Army Green. Sahgal Studs and Army Red won their respective matches and will face each other in the final of the first Patiala Cup. The Chief Minister has been behind the setting up of the polo ground. A piece land of the state government, which was being cultivated, was identified and taken over for the polo ground. District Horticulture Officer Sandeep Grewal said more than 200 truckloads of sand were mixed with the clayish soil of the ground to make it suitable for the sport. The ground has come up within three months, with the vast tract being provided with grass during this period. Deputy Commissioner Tejveer Singh said the watering of the ground was done through an underground sprinkler system to make the entire process quicker and more cost-effective. He said besides a club had also been established alongside the polo ground in an old building, which used to house the reception area for VIPs taking off from the Patiala aerodrome. The building has taken a new look with a lounge being created besides rest rooms keeping with the high profile of the game. The polo ground also has a permanent stand to ensure easy viewing besides permanent fencing to ensure that the ball remains in the ground. Though the ground is spread over 15 acres, the government has 85 acres of land at its disposal at the site. This land may be developed for setting up of further polo fields or for other sporting activities. |
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