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Dhoni’s Divali blast destroys Lanka
We have lot more options now: Dravid
Rs 5 lakh reward for Dhoni
Tight security for Ahmedabad tie
English media criticises BCCI on Test venues
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South Eastern Railway win hockey title
Bangladesh
team win Nehru Hockey meet
Bhutia to lead Bengal in Santosh Trophy
Gonzalez wins Swiss Indoors title
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Dhoni’s Divali blast destroys Lanka
Jaipur, October 31 Dhoni’s 145-ball innings, studded with 10 towering sixes and 15 fours, fell 11 runs short of the world record one-day score of 194 by Pakistan’s Saeed Anwar. This is the second highest score by an Indian after Sachin Tendulkar’s 186 against New Zealand at Hyderabad in 1999. Dhoni, who broke the record for maximum sixes by an Indian, completely overshadowed a sterling 138-run knock by his Sri Lankan counterpart Kumar Sangakkara as India recorded a comfortable six-wicket victory overhauled the target of 299 with 3.5 overs to spare. Dhoni’s score also equalled Sourav Ganguly’s 183 which also came against Sri Lanka at Taunton during a World Cup match in 1999. The 24-year-old Jharkhand batsman put on valuable partnerships with Virender Sehwag (38) and skipper Rahul Dravid (28) after the in-form Sachin Tendulkar was dismissed cheaply for two in the very first over. Dhoni brought the winning runs in style, with a huge six off Tillekeratne Dilshan. The Sri Lankans put up a much improved performance with the bat but their good work was undone by some unimaginative bowling on a batsman-friendly track. Champion spinner Muttiah Muralitharan was also rendered largely ineffective, although he emerged as the most successful bowler with figures of 2-46. The teams will now travel to Pune where the fourth one-day international will be played on Thursday. Earlier, India were off to a disastrous start, losing Tendulkar in the very first over to Chaminda Vaas. Chasing a delivery outside the off stump, the master blaster, who had slammed 93 and 67 not out in the matches at Nagpur and Mohali, ended up offering a catch to Sangakkara. But Dhoni was in a belligerent mood, so much so that he even overshadowed Sehwag. He picked speedster Farveez Maharoof for special treatment, hitting a six and two fours in the seventh over and another three fours in the bowler’s next over, prompting skipper Marvan Atapattu to pull him out of attack after he had bowled just two overs, which cost a huge 27 runs. Dhoni and Sehwag entertained the partisan 23,000 crowd with their aggressive strokeplay and put on 92 runs off 85 balls for the second wicket before the Delhi opener was trapped leg before by Vaas for 39 which came off 37 balls with the help of three fours. But there was no stopping Dhoni, who littered the outfield with fours and sixes galore. He raced to his 50 off 40 balls with six fours and three sixes and put on 86 runs with Dravid, who made 28 off 34 before being caught and bowled by Muralitharan, the scoreboard reading 185 for three. Dhoni reached his 100 with an exquisite straight drive off Upul Chandana. He needed 85 balls to slam his second one-day international hundred, an effort studded with 10 fours and five sixes. The 24-year old then made Atapattu repent his decision to bring on Maharoof again, hitting the bowler for a six and a four to extract 14 runs from the paceman’s over. Dilshan received a similar welcome. India’s 200 came in only 29.1 overs, with the run rate hovering around six an over. Earlier, Sangakkara joined forces with bridegroom-to-be Mahela Jayawardene (71) to put on a rollicking 151-run partnership for the third wicket off 141 balls after Atapattu won the toss and elected to bat. Overcoming a shaky start that saw them being reduced to 77 for two, the left-handed Sangakkara and Jayawardene helped their team hit the then highest total at the ground and left India with a stiff asking rate of nearly six runs an over. The 28-year-old Sangakkara, who slammed 13 fours and two sixes in his start to finish 147-ball knock, capped his superb show with a whirlwind unbeaten 50-run stand with Maharoof (33 off 16 balls, 4x4, 1x6) at the death to take the score almost to the 300-run mark. The Sri Lankans, smarting under two massive defeats on the trot in the seven-match series, appeared to have come into the match with a gameplan as they started sedately, concentrated on grafting in the middle overs before opening up. Indian captain Dravid looked at ease for the first time in the series, his bowlers, he used seven of them, failing to contain the run flow. The visitors suffered a setback in the sixth over when Sanath Jayasuriya, carrying a shoulder injury, played on to Ajit Agarkar for a run-a-ball 15 (2x4). Sangakkara and Atapattu then put on 46 runs for the second wicket before the captain fell for 17 scored off 49 balls with the help of one boundary. JP Yadav, who replaced Irfan Pathan from the West End, induced an inside edge and Dhoni made no mistake. The introduction of Harbhajan Singh helped in tying down new batsman Mahela Jayawardene and Sangakkara further. But after seeing off the initial overs by Harbhajan and left-arm spinner Murali Kartik, Jayawardene, who is to get married in Colombo on Wednesday and would miss the Pune one-dayer, opened up to play some delightful strokes. Jayawardene looked determined to make amends, racing to his 50 off just 54 balls with the help of seven fours. Sangakkara, too, stood firm at one end and reached his 50 off 79 balls with five fours before he stepped on the accelerator, hitting a huge six off Murali Kartik and another off Sachin Tendulkar over the midwicket fence to race to his fourth one-day century and first against India in 123 balls with eight fours and two sixes. Jayawardene fell to the part-time off-spin of Sehwag for 71 off 69 balls (10x4) in the 44th over. Maharoof did more than what was expected of him, hitting a cameo unbeaten 33 off just
16 balls. Scoreboard Sri Lanka Sangakkara not out 138 Jayasuriya b Agarkar 15 Atapattu c Dhoni b Yadav 17 Jayawardene c Sehwag
Dilshan lbw Sehwag 3 Maharoof not out 33 Extras
(lb-5, nb-4, w-12) 21 Total (4 wickets, 50 overs) 298 Fall of wickets:
1-31, 2-77, 3-228, 4-240. Bowling: Pathan 10-0-67-0, Agarkar 10-1-62-2, Yadav 9-0-53-1, Harbhajan 10-0-30-0, Kartik 6-0-42-0, Sehwag 4-0-29-1, Tendulkar 1-0-10-0. India Sehwag lbw Muralitharan 39 Tendulkar c Sangakkara
Dhoni not out 183 Dravid c & b Muralitharan 28 Yuvraj b Dilshan 18 Rao not out 19 Extras:
(b-6, lb-2, nb-5, w-1) 14 Total: (4 wickets, 46.1 overs) 303 Fall of wickets:
1-7, 2-99, 3-185, 4-250. Bowling: Vaas 6-0-43-1, Fernando 8-0-38-0 Maharoof 7-0-50-0, Muralitharan 10-1-46-2, Chandana 10-0-83-0, Dilshan 5.1-0-35-1.
— PTI, UNI |
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We have lot more options now: Dravid
Jaipur, October 31 "We have put different people to bat in different positions and set up challenges to the players. The best thing is the players have responded to the challenges magnificently and that has given us a lot of options in this series," Dravid said after India surged to a 3-0 lead in the seven-match series with an emphatic six-wicket win against Sri lanka here today. "The side can afford to be flexible because we know now we have people who can do it, who are flexible and would adjust to various roles according to the needs of the team. "But in all the success and glory of winning we have to look at areas in which we need improvement like today we bowled well for the first 30 overs but in the last 20 we could have done better," he said. "It is a challenge how can we forget our past performances and prepare for the next game. Our focus will be on preparing well for the next game irrespective of this victory or our status in the series at this stage". "We have got to keep raising the bar and perform consistently, there are certain areas where we need to improve and we will try to do that." Dravid also said it was decided yesterday morning to promote Mahendra Singh Dhoni up the order, a move that determined the result of the match. The skipper was profuse in his praise of Dhoni saying it was one of the best ODI innings ever. "I have seen some great innings but while chasing probably it came close to Sachin's effort against Australia in Sharjah. It turned out to be a long session for him, he kept for 50 overs and then batted for 46 overs. "It was a privilege to see him bat today. The important thing was he was right there till the end." Dhoni, declared man of the match and who was also given Rs 10 lakh by Rajasthan Cricket Association, said he only concentrated on batting out the 50 overs and did not think about the possibility of a double ton. "I just wanted to bat till the 50th over and hit the winning runs. And yes, when I was on 160, Adam Gilchrist's 172 was at the back of my mind," he said. Asked what instruction was he given before he came out to bat, the Jharkhand player said "I was told to take singles off Muralitharan and attack the rest of the bowlers." Asked about the cramps which troubled him later in his innings, Dhoni said "It was a long session for me, the cramps did trouble me but the physio helped me out, I don't think there are any fitness concerns, I should be fit for Pune."
— PTI |
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Rs 5 lakh reward for Dhoni
Giridih, October 31 The award was announced by Jharkhand Chief Minister Arjun Munda for Dhoni, the first cricketer from the state to represent the country. “He deserves the reward as he is making the country and the state proud,” Munda said ere.
— PTI |
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Tight security for Ahmedabad tie
Ahmedabad, October 31 More than 1,400 policemen and security personnel would be deployed in an around the stadium to ensure that the day/night fixture passes of incident free, Gujarat Cricket Association (GCA) chairman Narhari Amin told reporters today. “This is the second time that the city is getting to host a day-night match and we will leave no stone unturned to make sure that it is incident free,” Amin said. Apart from the heavy security presence, the GCA has already stationed four security personnel round the clock around the pitch so that no untoward incident occurs before the match. Regarding ticket sales the GCA official said that elaborate arrangements have been made and prices have been cut down a bit keeping in mind vacation in schools so that children could throng the venue for the match. “Already we have managed to sell Rs 60 lakh worth of tickets,” GCA officials said. GCA officials added that all the selectors of the Indian cricket team would also be present in the city during the crucial match. “The selection of (players) the last two match would be done after the match is played here and thus all the selectors would be present and so would be BCCI secretary S K Nair,” Amin said.
— PTI |
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English media criticises BCCI on Test venues
London, October 31 Reports in the media have called it a “calculated insult to English cricket.” The venerable The Times said it is “indicative of bungling by the Indian Cricket Board and weakness on the part of the ECB.” The BCCI decision to hold the first and second Test matches at Ahmedabad and Nagpur instead of traditional cricket centres of Kolkata, Delhi, Bangalore and Chennai, where large crowds would be certain and visitors from Britain accommodated in good hotels, was questioned. “The decision-making of the Indian board is often the result of an unfathomable process mired in political compromise between the regions,” The Times said. The media here also speculated that the choice of venues could be a plan to destabilise the England team by sending them to grounds which would help Indian spinners.
— UNI |
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Marcus Trescothick rescues England
Rawalpindi, October 31 Trescothick made an unbeaten 124 to ensure England’s first full outing since winning the Ashes last month was not a complete disaster, as the tourists made 256-9 on the first day of their three-day match at the Pindi stadium. Trescothick was a picture of concentration during his 330-minute vigil, hitting 16 fours and a six and holding the side together after England were left tottering at 60-6 at lunch. Pakistani pacemen Yasir Arafat (4-45) and Najaf Shah (3-58) destroyed the top order with their ability to reverse-swing the ball — a bitter irony for England, who relied on the same technique to beat Australia this summer. But Trescothick ensured all was not lost, making a valiant 117-run ninth wicket stand with reserve wicket-keeper Matt Prior, who hit a pugnacious 50. The 29-year-old Trescothick hit his 13th boundary to reach a well deserved hundred much to the delight of his team-mates. Alex Loudon was unbeaten on 2 on a day which saw England's much touted batting crumble. Trescothick's opening partner Andrew Strauss (5) and captain Michael Vaughan (9) fell in Shah’s first spell to leave England at 41-2 in the first match of their winter tour of Pakistan. |
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Petrova wins first WTA title
Linz (Austria), October 31 Petrova, set to rise one spot to 9th in the world rankings, had lost her previous four finals, including two this year.
“This is a great step forward for me,” said Petrova. “It gives me a lot of confidence for next year and allows me to aim for more finals and more titles. It was very important that this happened finally. I’ve now achieved everything I wanted to this year — to play very consistently, to have good results in the Grand Slams, and now to win a title. I’m very happy.” Schnyder, the runner-up in Zurich last week, was favoured to win her third WTA title of the year. But after winning the first
set, her game deteriorated. She made 43 unforced errors, most of them in the last two sets. “I started well, but then my game got really faulty,” said fourth-seeded Schnyder. She started the final after taking a painkiller for the hand she cut and bruised while smashing her racket on the ground in the semifinals. Third-seeded Petrova cruised 4-0 ahead in the last set and tightened up, but held on. “Although I led so clearly, this was the point, when
I got really nervous,” Petrova said. “Being so close to my first title made my legs
disappear.” — AP |
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South Eastern Railway win hockey title
Ludhiana, October 31 The final got off to a brisk start with the South Eastern Railway girls initiating the first attack. Northern Railway eves did a fine job to keep their rivals at bay. The latter entered the danger zone twice, resulting in penalty corners which went abegging. SER eves did not deter with the onslaught unleashed by their opponents and Sonika Yadav sneaked into NR’s defence and also caught goalkeeper Rajni Bala on the wrong foot. Sonika’s attempt bore fruit and SER went into the lead in the 30th minute. Stung by this goal, NR eves went all out and made repeated attacks in SER’s territory but without success. In the 46th minute, Delhi girls were awarded a penalty stroke and Jasjeet Kaur scores the equaliser. They forced three more penalty corners but could take advantage of these chances. NR players continued to exert pressure on their rivals and midway through the second half, managed to convert a penalty corner through Rajinder Kaur to surge ahead 2-1. However their joy was shortlived as SER eves restored parity a few minutes later through a penalty corner conversion by P Pardhan. As the issue remained unresolved, the golden-goal rule was applied, but it also failed to produce any result. In the tie-breaker, SER women got the better of the defending champions to register their maiden title victory. Ms Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, Deputy Chief Minister, Punjab, was the chief guest on the concluding day. She announced a grant of Rs 2,00,000 from her discretionary quota for the MPSG Trust and Society, the organisers of this annual tournament. She also honoured Baldev Singh, national hockey coach and Deputy Director, Sports, Haryana, for his contribution to the promotion of the game. Mr Tej Parkash Singh and Mr Malkit Singh Dakha, MLAs, along with a large number of former national and international sportspersons were also present on the occasion.
— OSR |
Bangladesh
team win Nehru Hockey meet
New Delhi, October 31 With the defenders of both the teams holding out to repel the rival attacks, the regulation play ended in a goal-less deadlock. The first set of tie-breakers also ended in a deadlock with both the teams scoring four goals each. Prem Kumar, who put Lyallapur in the lead in the tie-breaker shootout, eventually turned out the villain as he fumbled in the sudden death shot while Mohammad Enamul Kabir of Bangladesh made no mistake. The other scorers for Bangladesh were Mohammad
Enamul, Mohammad Mukitul, Mohammad Mushasroof and Mohammad Mamunur. For
Lyallapur, Ashok Kumar, Lakhwinder Singh and Jagdeep Singh were the other marksmen while Jatinder Pal Singh bungled with his shot. In the match for the third place, Government Model School, Jalandhar defeated Town High School, Sundergarh 8-0. Bachittar Singh, Amritpal and Deepak Sharma scored a brace each while Hardeep Singh and Gagandeep Singh accounted for a goal each. Government Model School, Chandigarh were awarded the penalty corner award of Rs 20,000. Lyllapur received a cash prize of Rs 64,000 while Bangladesh took home Rs 96,000. |
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Bhutia to lead Bengal in Santosh Trophy
Kolkata, October 31 The team:
Goalkeepers: Rajat Ghosh Dastidar, Kalyan Chowbey and Subrata Pal. Defenders:
Manas Das, Shaumik Dey, Rajib Ahmed, Madhab Das, Covan Lawrence and Amulya Mandal. Midfielders: Mehtab Hossain, Noel Wilson, Chandan Das (vice-captain), Jayanta Sen, Subhas Chakraborty, Sashthi Duley and Sankha Roy Chowdhury. Forwards:
Raman Vijayan, Dipendu Biswas, Bhaichung Bhutia (capt) and Syed Rahim Nabi. New Delhi:
A 20-member Delhi team for the 60th Senior National Football Championship was announced here on Monday. Except Sunil Chetri of JCT, all other key players of the state were released by their respective clubs, the statement said. Vinay Singh of Churchill Brothers, Pramod Rawat of Mohun Bagan, Sumit Thapa of Air India, Faiz Alam of Sporting Clube de Goa and Prashant Jaggi of Salgaocar are the players who would try to improve upon last year’s quarterfinal appearance. Delhi face Himachal Pradesh and Bihar in the league phase. The
team: Defenders: Pardeep Kumar (captain), Manoj Singh Gusain, Bijender Singh, Paritosh Kumar Sharma, Ranvijay Singh, Parshant Jaggi, Mahender Kanojia. Midfielders:
Irfan Zaman Khan, Lalit Singh, Manoj Chowdhary, Rupesh Dev, Arjun Pandit, Parveen Rawat. Forwards:
Faiz Alam, Sumit Thapa, Palmei Poupangal, Ricky Chhakchhnak, Thoiba Singh. Standbyes:
Sanjeev Kumar (goalkeeper), Harish Joshi, Rajesh Negi, Bhartendu Sharma, Tara Singh Adhikari, Ajay Kumar, Saurav Bisht, Amit Sharma, Ishan Rawlley Singh and Ujjwal Barua. Mumbai:
Mumbai and Nagpur players comprise the Maharashtra squad for the 60th National Football Championship for the Santosh Trophy to be held in Kerala from November 4-20. Three players from Federation Cup champions Mahindra United — Steven Dias, Rauf Khan and Abhishek Yadav — are part of the team to be accompanied by chief coach Irenio Vaz, coach Ashok Yadav and technical director Dereyk D’Souza, a media release said on Monday. Maharashtra open their campaign on November 4 against Meghalaya. The team:
Israt Kamal, Clifford Kilmo, Sujit Manaly, Santosh Koli, Jinto Jose, Rauf Khan, Hikmat Singh, Denzy Godinho, Javed Ansari, Vijit Shetty, Paresh Shivalkar, Nirmal Deep, Khalid Siddiqui, Steven Dias, Soccor Velho, Reuben D'Souza, Abhishek Yadav and Anthony Fernandes (all Mumbai), Nitin Koturwar, Amit Chaurasia and Mohd Shahid Ansari (Nagpur).— PTI |
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Gonzalez wins Swiss Indoors title
Basel, October 31 The win increased Gonzalez’s points in the Masters Cup race from 322 to 337. He remains in 13th position but is now within nine points of Marat Safin, who is sitting in eighth but who has already pulled out with injury. The Chilean can qualify for Shanghai if he wins the title at this week’s Paris Masters. “I was lucky ... my tennis has been unbelievable,” said
Gonzalez, who lost the final here in 2002 to David Nalbandian. “I want to congratulate my opponent today. He played two more matches than me.” His singles victory was the
seventh career title for Gonzalez and his third this season after winning in Auckland, New Zealand, and Amersfoort, Netherlands. The 20-year-old Baghdatis — in his first ATP final — was seeking to become the first Cypriot to win an ATP title.
He was also the first qualifier to reach the final in Basel.
Baghdatis had toppled second-seeded David Nalbandian 6-2, 7-6 (3) in Saturday’s
semifinals.
He also beat Britain’s Alan Mackin, eighth-seeded Tommy Haas and Argentina's Jose
Acasuso. — AP |
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