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Kumble gives India a thumping victory
Dravid, Kaarthick put us in winning position: Ganguly
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Inzamam blames spinners
Kudos pour in for team
M.S. Dhoni, Mishra hog limelight
Punjab poised to enter final
Rlys beat Hyderabad
Aussies in command
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Kumble gives India a thumping victory
Kolkata, March 20 Kumble claimed seven for 63 for his 29th five-wicket haul as Pakistan, chasing a daunting target of 422, were shot out for 226 soon after tea on the fifth and final day. It was a remarkable comeback by the Indians, who were outplayed for the better part of first two days and the win would bring the smiles back on their faces after they had failed to force a result in the series opener in Mohali. The hosts now lead the three-Test series 1-0 with the third and final Test to be played in Bangalore from March 24 to 28. The seven wickets meant Kumble had a match haul of 10-160, the seventh time he had recorded such an analysis. The win would also erase the bitter memories of 1999 at the venue for the Indians, when they were outplayed by Wasim Akram’s men in an Asian Test Championship tie that was forced to be played in-camera during the closing stages after crowd disturbances. Pakistan’s hopes of avoiding a defeat revolved around Yousuf Youhana and Asim Kamal who added 63 runs for the fifth wicket. The partnership helped briefly resurrect the visitors’ innings after three wickets fell for 20 runs at the start of the day. But Kumble, having ripped through the top order, including the dismissal of vice-captain Younis Khan first ball this morning, returned to provide the breakthrough when he had Youhana caught bat-pad for 22. Eight runs later, Razzaq (6) was foxed by a Kumble delivery that went quicker through the air and uprooted the leg stump off an inside edge of the batsman’s blade. Akmal (7), Pakistan’s saviour at Mohali, walked in next, but did not last long. Soon after the 200 of the innings was posted in 263 minutes, the wicketkeeper-batsman was beaten by a straight delivery from Harbhajan as he played for the spin and played inside the line of the ball and lost his off and middle stumps. Kamal, ploughing a lonely furrow, reached his sixth 50 in eight Tests, straight driving pacer Balaji for a boundary, but returned to the pavilion soon after. He tried to work Kumble to the leg side, but the ball took the upper end of the bat and was taken by
substitute Mohammed Kaif at forward short leg. Kumble now has 53 wickets in eight matches against the arch-rivals, the third highest tally by a bowler between the two countries. Only legendary allrounders Kapil Dev (99) and Imran Khan (94) have taken more wickets. The day started off sensationally as overnight not out batsman Younis Khan got out of the very first ball when he needlessly reached out to play a ball wide outside the leg stump, and missed and Dinesh Kaarthick, his tails up after the 93-run knock yesterday, did the rest behind the wicket with aplomb. Skipper Inzamam, who came in after Younis’s dismissal with a lot of responsibility resting on his shoulders, signalled his arrival with a fluent boundary off Balaji through fine leg to post the 100 of the innings 21.1 overs. However, Inzamam’s moment of glory in the middle was too brief as he played half-cock to a Kumble delivery and only managed an outside edge on to his stump, sending alarm bells ringing in the Pakistan camp. Pakistan suffered another big blow when opener Taufeeq Umar went back of the first delivery of the next over. Umar, who never really looked confident despite spending 124 minutes in the middle, departed to a beauty of a delivery from Balaji, that moved away after pitching on the off stump. The two big wickets off back-to-back deliveries forced the Pakistan batsmen to put the shutters down as aggression was written in the Indian players’ body language, making forceful appeals on every opportunity. Finding Pakistan with their backs to the wall, Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly — who now has a 19-12 win-loss record in 46 Tests — piled on the pressure, surrounding the batsmen with five fielders in close catching positions. Then followed a middle-order collapse as Pakistan lost their last six wickets in the space of only 48 runs. Indian vice-captain Rahul Dravid was named man of the match for his two centuries in two innings. India (1st innings): 407 Pakistan (1st innings): 393 India (2nd innings): 407/ 9decl Pakistan (2nd innings): Umar c Sehwag b Balaji 35 Afridi c Ganguly b Kumble 59 Younis st Kaarthick b Kumble 0 Inzamam b Kumble 13 Youhana c Gambhir b Kumble 22 Kamal c sub b Kumble 50 Razzaq b Kumble 6 Akmal b Harbhajan 7 Sami lbw Kumble 9 Khalil not out 0 Kaneria b Harbhajan 3 Extras
(b-17,lb-3,nb-1,w-1) 22 Total (all out, 91.3 overs) 226 Fall of wickets:
1-93, 2-95, 3-115, 4-115, 5-178, 6-188, 7-203, 8-214, 9-223. Bowling:
Pathan 7-1-32-0, Balaji 16-4-60-1, Kumble 38-16-63-7, Harbhajan 30.3-16-51-2.
— PTI |
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Dravid, Kaarthick put us in winning position: Ganguly
Kolkata, March 20 Ganguly also described the first ball dismissal of Younis Khan on the fifth and final day as the turning point of the
riveting second Test at the eden Gardens. "This is one of our better wins. It is very satisfying to beat a young Pakistan side," a beaming Ganguly said at the post-match media conference after India scripted an emphatic 195-run victory against the arch-rivals. Ganguly said the his boys dominated throughout the first Test at Mohali and continued their good show here. "Out of the five Tests against Pakistan we played of late, we dominated in four. It's a good sign," he said. On today's play, Ganguly said "The first ball dismissal of Younis Khan really set up the day for a win and put a lot of pressure on Pakistan. "When we declared the innings we thought we had a chance of winning the Test. After dismissing (Shahid) Afridi yesterday, we knew we are going to win. And after the first ball dismissal of Younis Khan, we thought it's a matter of time," he said. Ganguly said the victory was all the more satisfying as his side had lost to Pakistan in a close one-dayer held to celebrate the BCCI's platinum jubilee at the same venue last November. "They had also managed to save the match at Mohali. So its good to taste a win here," he said. Ganguly praised vice captain Dravid and the teenage wicket-keeper batsman Dinesh Kaarthick for their fine performance when chips were down for India. "Dravid and Kaarthick put us in a winning position. Kaarthick batted very well and his innings was a crucial one. From 154 for 4, he and Dravid took us to a position where we could even think of a win," he said. Ganguly attributed the frequent twists and turns in the match to the Eden wicket. "If you get a good wicket things happen like this. It was a very good Test wicket and you need to play well every day. "We knew a target of over 300 will be difficult for any side to chase on the last day. So, while we scored 400 runs in the first innings, we knew we had a chance," he said. Ganguly said he was satisfied with the performance of offie Harbhajan Singh, who returned to top flight cricket after a three-month lay off. "Considering that he played a Test, even a first class match, after a long time, his performance was good. But as the match progressed, he was getting better," Ganguly commented. Harbhajan was reported for suspect action late last year before being cleared by the ICC in February. To a question whether it would have been better had the man of the match award gone either to Kumble or to the leggie and Dravid jointly, Ganguly said "Who gets the man of the match does not really matter so long the team wins." Replying to a query about his poor form with the bat, Ganguly said "I haven't scored runs in the last three innings. But I scored runs in the last ten years.... I hope to get runs in Bangalore." Asked if he would like to drop down to number six and promote V V S Laxman to number five, the skipper said batting order made no difference. "So, it's not important whether Laxman comes at five or six. What is important is that both of us have to score runs." He also brushed aside criticism of his bowling changes on the second day when Pakistan raced to 273 for 2, saying it was always easy to criticise from outside. "Such criticisms happen in India-Pakistan matches. The easiest thing in cricket is to pass opinion from outside. But at the end of the day, we went on to win the match which is most important," he said.
— PTI |
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Inzamam blames spinners
Kolkata, March 20 Inzamam said the dismissal of opener Shahid Afridi last evening and Younis Khan’s stumping in the very first ball this morning caused “some setbacks” to the visitors, but they could have “saved the game with a more responsible batting display by the latter order.” Inzamam was also “very disappointed” with the indifferent performance by his spinners - Danish Kaneria and Afridi - on an uneven track, where the Indian slow bowlers created havoc on the fifth and final day today. “We played with three pacers and two spinners. I am quite satisfied with the way the pacers bowled. But the spinners have disappointed me,” he told reporters. Inzamam hailed the hosts for a dominating display in the first two Tests and praised Rahul Darvid and Anil Kumble, who played crucial roles in India’s win. “Dravid is playing outstandingly during last two-three years. Going by his average, I think he is one of the best Test players in the world,” he said. As for Kumble, he said the leggie was almost unplayable on wickets like this where the ball was keeping low and often had uneven bounce.
— PTI |
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Kudos pour in for team
Kolkata, March 20 Former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, Mr L.K. Advani, Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee also congratulated the team. ***
Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq gracefully accepted the defeat. He admitted that India showed a much better performances. He congratulated Ganguly and credited Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble for performing extraordinarily, which had been the main cause of their defeat. ***
The BCCI President and the ICC chief expressed their disappointment at the poor turnout at the Eden Gardens for the Test. Mr Mani alleged that the CAB failed to make the Eden Gardens more cricket friendly this time. The ICC chief denied that there was any proposal for shifting the ICC headquarters from Dubai to either Kolkata or Lahore in the near future. |
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M.S. Dhoni, Mishra hog limelight
Chandigarh, March 20 On a day when Haryana's Amit Mishra also bowled a mesmerising spell of leg-spin, claiming a six-wicket haul, it was Dhoni who clearly stole the show due to his scintillating batting. He went hammer and tongs after the Haryana bowling and completed a 75-ball 109 as Jharkhand, in pursuit of Haryana's first innings total of 453, scored 308 before being bundled out. Haryana, in their second essay, were 26 without loss when the third day's play came to an early end on account of bad light. Starting from the overnight score of 9 for 2, Jharkhand batsmen Munish Vardhan and Rajeev Kumar batted cautiously to add 45 runs to the total for the third-wicket stand before the former departed after making 26. This brought Dhoni to the crease, who did not waste much time getting into his groove. Once into it, the doughty wicketkeeper-batsman unleashed a stunning array of audacious strokes. Dhoni, who recently played in the Challenger Trophy and also figured in the Indian one-day squad for matches against Bangladesh, proved why he was a fit candidate for the wicketkeeper-batsman's slot in the Indian one-day team. He found boundaries at will and was equally at ease clearing the fence for mighty sixes. He was disdainful towards spinners and pacers alike and his forceful strokes kept on disappearing on the boundary with regularity. When he finally fell to the guiles of Mishra, he had already clobbered 13 fours, besides hitting six lusty sixes. A laborious 44 by Manish Kumar and a breezy 34 by M. Diwakar ensured that Jharkhand crossed the 300-run mark. For Haryana, Mishra bowled a controlled a controlled spell of leg-spin. Mishra, who was selected in the 14-member Indian squad for the home series against West Indies nearly two years back, proved when he finds rhythm he could be a handful for the batsmen. Off-spinner G. Vashisht also bowled a long spell and claimed two wickets. Scoreboard Haryana (1st innings): 453 Jharkhand (1st innings): S Ghosh b Malik 3 M.Vardhan c Bisht b Rana 26 S Nadeem b Mishra 1 Rajeev b Mishra 39 MS Dhoni c Bisht b Mishra 109 Aamir Hashmi lbw Mishra 9 Manish c Sunny b Mishra 44 Sumit Panda c Joon b Mishra 18 Shahid c Joon b Vashisht 5 M Diwakar c Mishra b Vashisht 34 SS Rao not out 0 Extras
(nb-6, b-2, lb-7): 15 Total (all out, 83.5 overs): 308 Fall of wickets:
1-3, 2-9, 3-54, 4-176, 5-192, 6-202, 7-226, 8-253, 9-292. Bowling:
Joginder Sharma 15-2-51-0, Joginder Malik 6-2-18-1, Amit Mishra 24-8-66-6, Sachin Rana 7-1-35-1, Sunny Singh 4-0-25-0, G Vashisht 24.5-4-89-2, Deepak Joon 3-1-10-0. Haryana (2nd innings): Chaten Sharma batting 18 Bagheshwar Bisht batting 4 Extras
(lb-4): 4 Total (no loss, 8 overs): 26 Bowling:
SS Rao 4-1-10-0, M Divakar 4-0-12-0. |
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Mumbai, March 20 The unbeaten batsmen at the crease with an unfinished partnership of 81 runs for the fifth wicket in a Punjab total of 226 for 4 were experienced wicket keeper batsman Pankaj Dharmani, on 47, and talented newcomer Gaurav Gupta, on 34. This pair guided Punjab from a troublesome 145 for 4 in the 34th over till the 67th over without being separated though Gupta was lucky to be dropped twice in successive overs by home team captain Sairaj Bahutule when he was on 31. Scoreboard Mumbai (1st innings): 251 Punjab (1st innings): 126 Mumbai (2nd innings) (overnight 112 for 8) Mane lbw Gagandeep
16 Jaffer c Mongia b Gagandeep 5 Indulkar c Mongia b Uniyal 9 Muzumdar c Dharmani Shetty c Sodhi b Navdeep
69 Bahutule c Sodhi b Rajesh 5 Agarkar c Dharmani b Rajesh 6 Powar c Ricky b Rajesh 0 Samant c Gupta b Gagandeep 5 Kulkarni c Mongia b Navdeep
22 Salvi not out 0 Extras: (b 1, lb 5, nb 3, w 1) 10 Total:
(all out in 64.3 overs,) 168 Fall of wickets: 1-9, 2-25, 3-50, 4-55, 5-60, 6-69, 7-69, 8-82, 9-157. Bowling:
Gagandeep Singh 17-4-51-4, Vikram Singh 12-2-37-0, Uniyal 9-3-14-1, Navdeep Singh 6.3-1-11-2, Rajesh Sharma 20-4-49-3. Punjab (2nd innings): Rickey c Samant b Salvi 21 Sodhi lbw Agarkar 24 Yuvraj c Samant b Agarkar 42 Mongia c Samant b Agarkar 49 Dharmani batting 47 Gupta batting 34 Extras:
(lb 1, nb 7, w 1) 9 Total: (4 wkts in 67 overs) 226 Fall of wickets:
1-36, 2-64, 3-142, 4-145 Bowling: Agarkar 17-6-60-3, Salvi 4-0-32-1, Bahutule 16-3-26-0, Kulkarni 16-0-58-0, Powar 14-2-49-0.
— PTI |
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Rlys beat Hyderabad
New Delhi, March 20 After an indifferent display on the first two days of the Elite Division clash, the hosts were back in their element as they bowled out Hyderabad for 170 runs before achieving the target of 157 runs 45 minutes after tea on the third day itself. The 2002 champions, who will feature in the summit clash for the fourth time in the Ranji Trophy history, would now await the winners of the other semifinal between holders Mumbai and Punjab. It was a much improved performance by Railways today as their batsman showed better discipline in the middle with Pagnis leading the run chase. The left-handed opener, who used to play for Mumbai before joining the Railways, first had a 72-run partnership for the opening wicket with his skipper Sanjay Bangar (19) and after the team lost three wickets in the space of eight runs, he kept his composure to take his team to victory.
— PTI |
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Aussies in command
Wellington, March 20 New Zealand need to bat out the final two days to save the match closing the third day at 122 for four in their first innings replying to Australia’s 570 for eight declared. All the New Zealand bowlers suffered at the hands of Gilchrist and Martyn, and Shane Warne followed with a rapid half-century before Ricky Ponting put New Zealand out of their misery with the declaration just before tea. Australia then bagged the plum wicket of captain Stephen Fleming off the first ball he faced, and Hamish Marshall, Craig Cumming and Nathan Astle followed after tea as the home side struggled to stay in the game. Scoreboard Australia (1st innings): Langer c McCullum Hayden c Vincent Ponting lbw b Vettori 9 Martyn c McCullum Clarke c Fleming Katich c McCullum Gilchrist c and Warne not out 50 Gillespie b Franklin 2 Kasprowicz not out 2 Extras:
30 Total: (8 wkts decl) 570 Fall of wickets: 1-82, 2-100, 3-146, 4-163, 5-247, 6-503, 7-557, 8-559 Bowling:
Martin 28-6-123-0, Franklin 28-4-128-4, O’Brien 24-4-97-1, Vettori 47-5-170-2, Astle 13-2-40-1. New Zealand (1st innings): Cumming b Kasprowicz 37 Fleming lbw McGrath 0 Marshall c Gillespie Vincent batting 38 Nathan Astle c Warne Franklin batting 6 Extras: 14 Total:
(4 wkts) 122 FoW: 1-9, 2-55, 3-78, 4-108. Bowling:
McGrath 8-1-31-2, Gillespie 11-3-32-0, Kasprowicz 7-0-16-1, Warne 10-1-25-1, Clarke 3-1-8-1.
— AFP, AP |
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Harinder retains Hero Golf title
Chandigarh, March 20 The victory today got him a cheque for Rs 1.62 lakh in the 16th leg of the Amby Valley PGAI Tour. Harinder returned a card of two under-70, for an overall tally of eight-under par 280, two strokes ahead of overnight leader Mukesh Kumar and Arjun Singh who were tied for the second spot. Arjun Singh, known for his last-day heroics, shot a final round 68. Last year Amby Valley PGAI Tour money list winner Ashok Kumar had a tough day, scoring a one-over 73, after beginning at just a shot behind the leader. Binod Pandey was fifth with a tally of 284, while Pappan finished sixth, a stroke behind. Dinesh Kumar scored his first top-ten finish in the Amby Valley PGAI Tour 2004-05 season and was tied with five others for the seventh position. With just a stroke behind and a hole to go, Ashok as aggressive as ever, faultered on his drive, landing on the left jungle from where he made a double bogey, thus washing away a chance to tie with Harinder. Overnight leader and current money list leader on the Amby Valley PGAI Tour 2005 Mukesh failed terribly with his short game, especially with his putting. The 27-year-old made bogeys on the third,15th and the 16th holes against the two birdies on the 10th and 13th holes, missing an eagle on the latter. “I played very bad today. My putting was very bad and I missed birdie putts on the fourth, fifth, sixth and the ninth hole, from close distance,” said a dejected Mukesh. Delhi based pro Arjun Singh showed excellent temperament as he added a 68 to his overnight two-under 216 to tally six under 282. Arjun who had a bogey-free round today shot birdies on the sixth,13th,15th and the 17th holes. The champion of the day Harinder Gupta had a tough time with the two experienced pros Ashok and Mukesh. This became evident as he was under pressure to defend his title as he began with a bogey. That was the only mistake of the day till the 17th where, after enjoying a two-stoke cushion, he made another bogey. The shy-natured pro made a birdie on the fourth while registering a hat-trick of birdies beginning from the eighth. The chip-in on the 10th for a birdie paved the way for his victory. “I am very happy today to defend my title. Also it is exciting for me as I snatched a victory from experienced pros like Mukesh Kumar and Ashok Kumar,” said an elated Harinder. “I missed a chance to win the Airtel Open by making a triple bogie on the 16th hole but this time I was careful and was determined to collect the winner’s cheque,” added Harinder. The top amateur on the Royal Challenge Indian Golf Tour Gaganjeet Bhullar took away the honours in the amateur category of the Hero Golf Open 2005, finishing with a total of four over 292.. The Amby Valley Tour now moves on to Delhi for the Rs 50-lakh PSPB Open Petroleum Golf Championship, the biggest prize money domestic tournament. The scores: Pro ( after 72 holes): 280 — Harinder Gupta (66, 70, 74, 70); 282 —Arjun Singh ( 71, 72, 71, 68); Mukesh Kumar ( 70, 72, 67, 73); 283 —Ashok Kumar ( 69, 71, 70, 73); 284— Binod Pandey ( 71, 74, 69, 70); 285 —Pappan ( 70, 71, 72, 72); 286 —Dinesh Kumar ( 71, 75, 70, 70); Vijay Kumar (72, 71, 73, 70), Sanjay Kumar ( 72, 72, 71,71), Sandeep Syal (72, 75, 67, 72), Digvijay Singh ( 68, 76, 69, 73), Rafick Ali (65, 74,74,73). Amateurs: 292 —Ganganjeet Bhullar (73, 77, 72, 70); 301 — H S Kang (75, 73, 77, 76). |
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