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India determined to bounce back
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Pressure is on India: Kallis
Hayden, Hussey pile on misery for West Indies
Shabbir unlikely to play: Inzamam
Firoz in top 10
Sania says she was misquoted
Paes-Zimonjic lose a thriller
Sunil in team for Tennis Challenge
Harika maintains winning streak
East West Punjab golf meet from Nov 26
Bhutia in
list of probables, Vijayan out
Maharashtra beat holders Kerala
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India determined to bounce back
Bangalore, November 18 The hosts conceded the early initiative by losing the first match by five wickets and they would now have to regroup and rework their strategies for the day-night encounter at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. With the win at Hyderabad and a 20-match unbeaten streak under their belt, South Africa would be riding high on confidence as they go into the match where a victory would see them equal the 21-match record winning streak of Australia. Some pressure would obviously be on the Indians after the setback in the opener although skipper Rahul Dravid has promised to bounce back with a better performance in the second game of the five-match series. Graeme Smith’s men are undoubtedly on a roll, and the clinical fashion in which they outplayed the hosts has not gone unnoticed on Greg Chappell and company. The reverse, coming on the back of a thumping 6-1 series win against Sri Lanka, has come as a jolt for the home team which was keen to get the momentum going. The kind of batting collapse, which saw them being reduced to 35 for five in the first game, has not been seen for some years in Indian cricket. Dravid, however, tried to put up a brave front, saying “we have got to come back strongly. We are confident that if we can do a few things right, we will be very competitive in the series. I think it's going to be a close series”. Tomorrow’s encounter is going to be a truly special one for Dravid as he would be playing his first international match as a captain on his home ground. And the fact that he has not scored a century here in either forms of the game is something which must be playing on his mind. “It’s great to play in Bangalore as captain,” said Dravid who has been coming to the Stadium from the time he was a 13-14 years old. “I probably spent more time in the stadium than my home,” said the batsman who can rest assured that a capacity, sell-out crowd would be cheering for him when the ball sets rolling. Dravid said a batting strategy for the first 15 overs and cutting down on extras — it conceded 24 in Hyderabad — were the concerns that were being addressed to come out with an improved performance. India would also bank on Virender Sehwag to fire as the Delhi opener has not been able to convert starts into a big innings for some time now. He can make amends tomorrow on another batsman-friendly pitch which the curators said would produce a high-scoring match. “It’s full of runs, a typical one-day track,” said Chief Curator Narayan Raju, who was at pains to explain how the dew factor would not play a major part in deciding the outcome. Meanwhile, the battle-hardened South Africans, have bigger things on their mind. “We want to be the first South African team to win a one-day series in India,” said coach Micky Arthur. Bangalore, in a way, is a memorable venue for the tourists, ranked second in the ICC ODI rankings. It was here in 2000 that Hansie Cronje’s men crushed the home team by an innings and 71 runs to wrap the Test series 2-0. The only time, they played a one-day game here was in 1993-94, against Zimbabwe that was rained out. The Indians have won eight one-dayers here, and lost four. The visiting team has evolved into a tremendous fighting unit, a sea-change from a year-ago. The 4-1 win over England and white-washing of New Zealand have done a world of good for their confidence. Teams (from): India: Rahul Dravid (capt), Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Harbhajan Singh, Murali Kartik, Irfan Pathan, Ajit Agarkar, Sreesanth, Gautam Gambhir, Rudra Pratap Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Jai Prakash Yadav. South Africa: Graeme Smith (capt), Jacques Kallis, Johan Botha, Mark Boucher, AB de Villiers, Andrew Hall, Justin Kemp, Charl Langeveldt, Albie Morkel, Andre Nel, Makhaya Ntini, Justin Ontong, Robin Peterson, Shaun Pollock, Ashwell Prince.
— PTI |
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Pressure is on India: Kallis
Bangalore, November 18 With the tourists one-up in the series after their five-wicket win in Hyderabad, the pressure was on India, Kallis said at a pre-match press conference here. Noting that South Africa had never won a one-day series in India, he said, “We have to make sure that we are on top of our game and do not fall short. We are pretty confident that we can win the series.” But he said his side expected India to stage a fightback and come up with all guns blazing. “It is important that we do our best in things we can control,” he said. On South Africa close to equalling Australia’s record of 21-match unbeaten streak, Kallis said they would seek to extend that run as long as they could, but made it clear that they would not do anything differently from what they had been doing in the previous 20 games. “We are proud of our record and performance, but we take one game at a time,” he said. Asked to name an individual who could turn things around for India, Kallis said the home team was full of world-class players and anyone could take the game away from both batting and bowling points of view. Kallis said winning the toss would be important, given the dew factor in the day-night encounter, but added that South Africa had a gameplan to tackle Indian spinners. He said there was nothing new in the aggressive tactics used by his team in the first one-dayer. “We try to dominate from the first ball. We want to start off well and put India under pressure,” he said. On Indian captain Rahul Dravid indicating that the home team was looking to play well in the first 15 overs, following the top-order batting collapse in Hyderabad, Kallis said South Africa would not be worried by any strategy that India might adopt. “We do what we do well. We have never been a team worried too much about the opposition,” he said. “We are trying to control the things we can control and let the opposition take it from there,” he added. He said India were a strong side, as demonstrated during their series against Sri Lanka, and South Africa respected the home team. Kallis said it was difficult to compare the captaincy of Dravid and his predecessor Sourav Ganguly. He said the results of the last few games against Sri Lanka showed that Dravid had done a good job. Replying to a question, he said, “We have a few niggles in the side.” Kallis added that Charl Langeveldt had a back injury and would undergo a fitness test tomorrow morning.
— PTI |
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Hayden, Hussey pile on misery for West Indies
Hobart, November 18 Hayden continued his resurrection, which started with the last Ashes Test two months ago, as Australia pounded the unthreatening attack to take total control of the second Test on a rain-marred second day. The 34-year-old Hayden made 110, his 24th Test century, adding to his 138 against England, 111 against the World XI and 118 in the Gabba Test versus the West Indies. The Australians had cantered to 256 for one, a 107-run lead, by the close. Hussey presented the selectors with a dilemma ahead of the anticipated return in the next Adelaide Test of regular opener Justin Langer from a rib injury that kept him out of the first two Tests against the West Indies. Hussey’s flowing knock underlined the embarrassment of riches confronting the Australian selectors, looking to rejuvenate the team in the wake of the 2-1 Ashes series loss to England in September. At the close Hussey was not out on 116 and skipper Ricky Ponting not out on 17 on his home ground. “I’m elated. It’s really nice to play at this level, but you also want to succeed,” Hussey said. Hussey recovered from indistinguished scores of 1 and 29 in his debut Brisbane Test to share in a record opening stand of 231 at
Bellerive, bettering the previous best of 223 between Hayden and Langer against Kiwis in 2001. The only Australians to have twice produced a block of four centuries in four Tests are Hayden and Don
Bradman. Hayden has now figured in seven double-century opening partnerships — six of them with Langer — more than any other player in Test cricket. “Matt the Bat” fell to a catch by Dwayne Bravo at mid-wicket off Corey Collymore to end his 265-minute stay, featuring 11 boundaries and a six off Bravo. Hayden was facing Test oblivion after a mediocre Ashes campaign before he produced his fighting century at The Oval to gain a stay of execution. Since then he has not stopped amassing runs. Ponting, who scored centuries in both innings of the Brisbane Test, is chasing his sixth hundred in his last five Tests against the West Indies. Scoreboard West Indies (1st innings) 149 Australia (1st innings) Hayden c Bravo b Collymore 110 Hussey batting 116 Ponting batting 17 Extras
(lb-2, w-2, nb-9) 13 Total (1
wkt, 66 overs) 256 Fall of wicket: 1-231. Bowling: Edwards 15-2-73-0, Powell 14-1-67-0, Collymore 17-8-34-1, Bravo 13-1-63-0, Gayle 7-0-17-0.
— AFP |
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Shabbir unlikely to play: Inzamam
Faisalabad, November 18 “Shabbir bowled well in the first Test, but after his suspect bowling action, it was difficult for us to give him a chance,” Inzamam said. The second Test would begin here on
Sunday. It was the second time that Shabbir had been reported. If found to be bowling with an illegal action, he would be suspended from international cricket for 12 months. “It disturbs the balance of a winning side,” Inzamam said. He said if they would opt to rest
Shabbir, medium-pacer Rana Naved had a chance of making it to the final 11. “If we do not play with
Shabbir, we have Rana Naved with us,” he said. Trescothick to stay on
England’s opener Marcus Trescothick said on Friday that he had decided not to leave the tour of Pakistan and return home after a serious accident in his family. He was commenting on media reports that he might leave ahead of the second Test after his father-in-law was hurt in an accident. “Trescothick has advised the England team management that he will remain with the squad and be available for the second Test,” a press note from the England team management said. “The past few days have been very traumatic for my family and I am naturally extremely concerned for my father-in-law, whose condition is stable at present,” it quoted the team’s vice-captain as saying. “Having discussed the situation, I have decided that I will remain with the squad,” he said. Regular captain Michael Vaughan, who had missed the first Test because of an injury, said he was hopeful of being fit enough to take the field in the second Test.
— AFP |
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Firoz in top 10
Hanoi, November 18 Firoz is now lying eighth with a total of one-under as Thaworn Wiratchant, the Asian Order of Merit leader, moved into the shared lead with Frankie Minoza of the Philippines at the midway stage of the tournament. There were three Indians in top-10 and five of the 10 Indians made the cut. Firoz was all set for one of the best cards of the day as he was six-under when he came to the 18th tee. But the Kolkata golfer shot a double bogey on par-5 18th and slipped to four-under for the day and one-under for the tournament to be eighth. Firoz was three under for his first nine, as he started from the tenth tee. On the front nine of the course, he was once again three-under before the double bogey blotted his card. The Indians, adjusting to the conditions better on second day, also saw Amandeep Johl, 46th last night, and Mukesh Kumar, 20th on first day, make big movement upwards to tied tenth place with fine rounds of 70 and 73 respectively. Johl fighting to find his form had five birdies, four of them on front nine, in his 70. Scoring was extremely difficult on a windy day and greens that demanded some great judgement. Only eight players have sub-par totals and only nine players shot sub-par rounds on second day and that included three Indians — Firoz (68), Amandeep Johl (70) and Vivek Bhandari (71). Bhandari with his 71 was at five-over and in tied 30th place. Gurbaaz Mann at seven-over 151 was tied 49th while Digvijay Singh (76) was tied 54th at eight-over. The four eliminated were Harmeet Kahlon, who shot a 80, his worst on Asian Tour event and he finished at 10-over for the tournament. Arjun Singh withdrew while KPS Sekhon, who added a 75 to first horrendous 87, also went back. Uttam Singh Mundy, whose 80 put him 13-over, was the third one. Wiratchant playing brilliantly this year had the day's best of 66 with four birdies and an eagle and no bogeys, while Minoza, who plays a lot in Japan, had an eagle two, four birdies and two bogeys in his 68. Yoshinobu Tsukada (71) and overnight leader Danny Chia (74) were tied for third at four-under for two days. Chopra disappoints
Miyazaki: Daniel Chopra had a disastrous day with a six-over 76 and he slid to tied 52nd spot after being overnight tied 11th in the Dunlop Phoenix golf tournament in Japan. Daniel carded just one birdie during the day and seven bogeys, including four in last five holes in the second round at the Phoenix Country Club where the field includes Tiger Woods, David Duval, Jim Furyk and Colin Montgomerie. Jim Furyk, who was overnight third, moved into lead with a six-under 64 that saw him finish second day at nine-under 131. One shot behind was Tiger Woods (67) and Duval (68) as Americans dominated the leaderboard.
— PTI |
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Sania says she was misquoted
Hyderabad, November 18 Maintaining that she was deeply pained at the maligning of her image and making a non-issue into a serious controversy by misquoting her on the pre-marital sex issue, she said in a statement that “they were totally false connotations about my justifying pre-marital sex”. Sania, along with Miss Universe Natalie Glebanova and Formula One star Narain Karthikeyan, had reportedly voiced support to Khushboo at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit held in Delhi earlier this week. “I would like to clearly say on record that I could not possibly justify pre-marital sex as it is a very big sin in Islam and one which I believe will not be forgiven by Allah,” Sania, a devout Muslim, said in the statement. “Attributing a view point that is totally contrary to what I believe in and what I stand for as a Muslim and as an Indian girl,” Sania said, was a creation of media to sensationalise a story and such sensitive issues needed to be confirmed before making such attempts. Khushboo’s remarks on pre-marital sex had kicked up a major controversy and taken political twists with activists of PMK and Dalit Panthers of India voicing strong protests against the film star, who later apologised. An earlier episode involving Sania’s dress code and a religious leader issuing a “fatwa” (religious edict) to “dress as a Muslim girl” had raked up controversy and Sania refused to speak on the issue. She had also denied that her remarks at the Summit that whether her dress was six inches in length was not made in the context of fatwa issued on the subject. Muslim clerics had reportedly issued a 'fatwa' taking objection to Sania’s apparel during tennis matches which they said was “un-Islamic”.
— PTI |
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Paes-Zimonjic lose a thriller
New Delhi, November 18 In an edge-of-the-seat thriller in the Red Group, the Indo-Serbian pair saved three match points before the US pair won 7-5, 6-7(5), 7-6(7) in two hours, 30 minutes. The Americans were in danger of losing their crown at the round robin stage, but managed to finish on top of the group and deny Australians Wayne Arthurs and Paul Hanley a place in the semifinals. Paes and Zimonjic had assured themselves of their place in the last four after winning both their earlier matches. The two-time defending champions, who clinched the year-end number one spot following the elimination of Jonas Bjorkman and Max Mirnyi, saved a match point at 6-7 in the third set tie-breaker before winning the match. The Americans led by a set and 6-5 when they had two match points on Paes’ serve, but he saved these and they forced the deciding set by winning the tie-breaker. In the third set, Paes and Zimonjic went 3-1 up before the Bryans broke back and the match went to a tie-breaker. The Indo-Serbian pair led 4-2 before the Bryans hit back, levelling 5-5. Paes saved a third match point on his serve, but after the US pair survived one of their own, they converted their fourth one to book their place in the semifinals as group leaders, moving above Paes and Zimonjic on head-to-head record.
— PTI |
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Sunil in team for Tennis Challenge
New Delhi, November 18 The other players in the squad are Jeevan Nedunchezhian, Divij Sharan and Karan Rastogi. They will match skills against Harsh Mankad, Vishal Uppal, Rohan Bopanna and Vivek Shokeen. Former Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek, who announced the team here today along with Davis Cup player Mahesh Bhupathi, said the competition was expected to give the Indian players good exposure as they would get an opportunity of bagging a wild card for the qualifying round of the 33rd ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament, to be held in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, in February. Krajicek said he, along with Bhupathi, Sania Mirza and Shikha Uberoi, would feature in a celebrity event during the Tennis Challenge. A tennis clinic for children would be held during the event. Krajicek said the tournament would not only give Indian players an opportunity to compete with the best, but also give a further impetus to the game in the country. Bhupathi said there was no substitute to exposure at the international level. He said Indian tennis was on a high as Sania had taken it to a different level. |
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Harika maintains winning streak
Istanbul, November 18 Harika now has 5.5 points and shares the sixth place with four others in the leader board jointly headed by Gu Xiaobing of China and Mamedjarova Turkan of Azerbaijan with 6.5 points. In the other Top Board game, another Indian Grandmaster Tania Sachdev replied with c5 to Germany's championship favourite Paehtz Elisabeth who opened the game with her usual e4. However, the Indian could not keep pace with the German's near perfect game and conceded defeat after 32 moves, her second defeat in the championship. Tania's compatriot Karavade Eesha, however, defeated Iranian Pourkashiyan Atousa while Nadig Kruttika and N Ragavi drew their respective games with Zhang Jilin of China and Tilenbaeva Janyl of Kazakistan. Meanwhile, Indian boys registered three wins and three draws with Deep Sengupta, G N Gopal and Akshat Kamparia beating their opponents.
— UNI |
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East West Punjab golf meet from Nov 26
Chandigarh, November 18 The tournament has been named Punj-aab Cup after the five rivers of pre-Partition Punjab. Colonel B.S. Kahlon, General Secretary of the PGA, said 43 golfers, including 17 women, will be reaching Wagah on November 23. The Pakistan team comprises some of the reputed golfers of Pakistan like Murad Ahmed Khan, Ahmed Vaqas, Muhammad Safdar Khan and Nadeem Abbas. The golfers from Punjab (India), among others, will include Gaganjit Bhullar, Jaskirat Dullet and Harjinder Kang. The tournament will be inaugurated by Mr G.S. Sandhu, President, Chandigarh Golf Club, on November 26. On the final day, the prize distribution function will be presided over by General S.F Rodrigues. |
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Bhutia in
list of probables, Vijayan out
New
Delhi, November 18 Probables: goalkeepers: Sandeep Nandi, Israt Kamal, Nelson M.V., Felix D’Souza; defenders: Surukumar Singh, Samir Naik, N.S. Manju, Mahesh Gawli, N.P. Pradeep, Parminder Singh (Senior), Felipe Gomes, Marcus Pexeito; midfielders: Steven Dias, Climax Lawrence, Ajayan K., Abdul Noushad, S. Venkatesh, Mehtab Hussain, James Singh, W. Thomba Singh, Mehraj-ud-din; strikers: Syed Rahim Nabi, Abdul Hakim, Joaquim Abranches, Bhaichung Bhutia, Soccer Velho, Xavier V. Kumar, Anthony Pereira, Ruban D’Souza.
— PTI
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Maharashtra beat holders Kerala
Kochi, November 18 Striker Reuben D’Souza was the star for Maharashtra, scoring the goal in the 51st minute. The defending champions dominated proceedings, but failed to capitalise on the innumerable chances that came their way, much to the dismay of their fans. With time running out, Kerala coach Peethambaran brought in I.M. Vijayan in place of Medio Abdul Noushad, who had missed several chances. But even the veteran striker was not of much help as Maharashtra defenders Sclifford Kilmo and Rauf Khan effectively thwarted every Kerala attack, mainly led by marksmen Asif Saheer and Abdul Hakkim. — PTI
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