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Doing an encore won’t be easy, says Dravid
Ponting powers Aussies to series victory
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Lanka lose again
Punjab gain two points
Carlos
Moya enters semis Didar guides Sultans to 3-2 win
Centre of Excellence register win
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Doing an encore won’t be easy, says Dravid
Lahore, January 6 “This series would be a step towards the destination of becoming one of the best teams in the world and put to test our skills against a tough opponent”, Dravid said. But Dravid made it clear that a victory against Pakistan would not make his team a challenger to Australia as the top-ranked side. “I think both teams know that in order to challenge Australia we need to start winning overseas more regularly. What the Australians have done in recent years is hard to match,” Dravid told a packed press conference in the team hotel. “It will be a good, even contest but we will have to play very well against Pakistan to repeat our 2004 achievements,” Dravid said. The Indians are in Pakistan for the second time in as many years to play three Tests and five one-dayers. They begin their campaign with a three-day warm-up match against Pakistan A beginning here tomorrow. The 32-year-old Indian captain said his team would not be targeting any individuals but would be looking at the entire team. “For the past 15 years, the world knows that Inzamam is a great player but they also have quality batsmen in Mohammad Yousuf, Younis Khan and Salman Butt”, Dravid said. “So we are not focusing on individuals but if Pakistan target individuals, let them do so.” When asked how they would handle an in-form Shoaib Akhtar, who took 17 wickets in Pakistan’s 2-0 win over England last year, Dravid said his team would “pull” every Pakistan bowler. “They have a very good attack, so we would not focus on any one bowler,” Dravid said, adding that he and his team respected Pakistan as tough opponents. “Pakistan have a good bowling attack but we also have some very good batsmen, besides having the firepower to match Pakistan bowler-by-bowler and batsman-by-batsman. Dravid stressed once again that pre-series predictions and recent success of both teams leading up to this series would count for nothing when they lock horns in the first of the three Tests beginning in Lahore next week. “All the talk before the series about favourites and underdogs is for the Press. Teams don’t give much importance to these things. Teams know what they need to do on those particular days of the Tests and that is what matters.” Dravid said the India-Pakistan series should be formatted and held once in two years. “Although there is a big appetite for cricket contests between the two countries across the globe there is a need to strike the right balance,” he said. “I am sure the Boards of both countries will come up with an itinerary and programme which is something like the Ashes, not too much not too little, and get the right balance. We don’t want to be playing too much against one country.” Dravid brushed aside the concerns regarding the form of Sachin Tendulkar, who missed most of the last year due to tennis elbow, but broke the record for the maximum number of Test centuries in New Delhi against Sri Lanka. “I am not worried about the form of Sachin. He got a critical hundred for us in New Delhi. He has returned to cricket after a long layoff but he has got a couple of good scores. “Sachin is a great player not because of the number of runs he has scored but because he rises to the occasion when it matters the most.” Dravid paid homage on behalf of the Indian team to the victims of the October 8 earthquake, saying that he and his team-mates were disturbed after seeing the pictures of devastation caused by the natural calamity. “We show our solidarity and unity with the people of Pakistan over the tragedy,” he said.
— PTI |
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Jaffer, Gambhir may open
Lahore, January 6 The Indians had a practice session at the Gaddafi stadium here today, braving cold weather. With just two regular openers in Wasim Jaffer and Gautam Gambhir in the line-up, the Indians are expected to give them a chance to prove themselves ahead of the first Test starting on January 13. With Sourav Ganguly doing well in the Ranji Trophy back home, this will be a chance for Yuvraj Singh to strengthen his claims for a berth in the middle-order ahead of the former India skipper. As for Pakistan A, the spotlight will be on the pacemen. Umar Gul gets an opportunity to impress the selectors, while Mohammed Irshad will be another bowler hoping to make a mark. Among the home team batsmen, Imran Farhat and Mohammed Wasim will have to prove a point or two at the top of the order.
— UNI |
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Ponting powers Aussies to series victory
Sydney, January 6 The Australian skipper, in the richest form of his career, used the occasion of his 100th Test match to profit from an over-generous declaration by South Africa's Graeme Smith for a handsome eight-wicket win with 15.3 overs to spare on the final day. Australia finished on 288 for two after being set 287. It was the highest winning chase in the last innings at the SCG, bettering Australia's 276 for four against England in February, 1898. Man-of-the-series Ponting backed up his 120 in the first innings with an unconquered 143 off 159 balls with 16 fours to get Australia comfortably across the line after South Africa had amassed 451 for nine declared over 11 hours in their first innings. It gave Australia a 2-0 win the series, but today's victory was only possible after Smith's bold declaration on the final day opened the way for a result after the match had been rain-affected. Since returning from the Ashes series loss in England last September, Ponting has accumulated five centuries in seven Tests. Scoreboard SA (1st innings) 451 for 9 dec Australia (1st innings) 359 SA (2nd innings) Smith lbw McGrath 5 De Villiers lbw Lee 1 Gibbs run out 67 Kallis not out 50 Prince c Ponting Rudolph c McGrath Boucher st Gilchrist Pollock not out 26 Extras (b-3, lb-4, Total ( 6 wkts dec,42 overs) 194 Fall of wickets:
1-4, 2-6, 3-92, 4-123, 5-129, 6-152. Bowling: McGrath 15-2-61-1, Lee 10-3-48-1, Warne 11-1-45-0, MacGill 6-1-33-3. Australia (2nd innings) Langer b Langeveldt 20 Hayden c Smith b Botha 90 Ponting not out 143 Hodge not out 27 Extras
(lb-1, w-3, nb-4) 8 Total (2 wkts, 60.3 overs) 288 Fall of wickets:
1-30, 2-212. Bowling: Pollock 14-2-55-0, Langeveldt 14-1-52-1, Nel |
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Lanka lose again
Wellington, January 6 Shane Bond and Jeetan Patel were the bowling heroes for the home side as they pulled off an unlikely victory to go 4-0 up in the five-match series of one-day internationals. Scoreboard New Zealand Vincent c Muralitharan How c Sangakkara b Vaas 5 Fleming b Vaas 37 Fulton c Maharoof Marshall c Vaas Styris c Maharoof b Vaas 13 Cairns c and b Vaas 2 McCullum c Arnold b Vaas 1 Vettori b Muralitharan 7 Franklin not out 29 Bond not out 9 Extras
(lb-5, w-4, nb-4) 13 Total (9 wkts, 50 overs) 224 Fall of wickets:
1-14, 2-14, 3-85, 4-131, 5-154, 6-163, Bowling: Vaas 10-1-39-5, Fernando 10-1-51-2, Maharoof 10-0-49-1, Dilshan 10-0-37-0, Muralitharan 10-0-43-1. Sri Lanka Tharanga c McCullum Mubarak c Cairns b Patel 53 Sangakkara b Cairns 52 Jayawardene c McCullum Atapattu c Vincent Dilshan b Bond 17 Arnold lbw Patel 11 Maharoof lbw Bond 0 Vaas c How b Styris 9 Bandara c Styris b Bond 12 Fernando not out 4 Extras
(lb-3, nb-2) 5 Total (all out, 46.4 overs) 203 Fall of wickets:
1-16, 2-92, 3-106, 4-136, 5-156, 6-171, Bowling: Franklin 7-1-38-2, Bond 9.4-1-39-3, Cairns 6-0-28-1, Styris 4-0-22-1, Vettori 10-0-50-1, Patel 10-0-23-2.
— AFP |
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Punjab gain two points
Visakhapatnam, January 6 Resuming at 98 for 3, Punjab declared their second innings at 185 for seven, setting a 265-run victory target and giving a fair chance to the hosts to go for an outright win, but the latter made 166 for six to draw the match. Reetinder Singh Sodhi (42), Pankaj Dharmani (23) and G Gupta (27) were the main scorers for the visitors in their second innings, while newcomer Y Laxmikishore claimed three wickets for 62. The visitors had compiled 316 and bowled Andhra out for 237 in the first essay to take a 79-run lead. The Andhra chase began on a positive note with MSK Prasad and T Suman opening the innings with confidence but Dinesh Mongia trapped Suman leg before wicket for 17. With wickets falling frequently, the chase ran out of steam and MSK Prasad’s upward push was well taken in return by spinner B Sharma after he scored 46 runs off 96 balls during his two-hour stay at the wicket. Andhra have seven points with one more match to go, while Punjab have 11points in the Elite Group B cluster. Karnataka beat Delhi
Bangalore: Aided by their bowlers, including star leg-spinner Anil Kumble, Karnataka defeated Delhi by 167 runs on the fourth and final day of the Ranji Trophy Elite Group A match here on Friday. Kumble grabbed three for 63 and combined with Sunil Joshi (3-24) and N C Aiyappa (2-20) to bundle out the visitors for 138 in 60.4 overs. Bengal lose
Kolkata: Sourav Ganguly’s valiant 88 went in vain as Bengal crashed to a 222-run loss against Tamil Nadu in a Ranji Trophy Elite Group A cricket match here on Friday.
— PTI |
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Double treat for Rupesh, Sanaa
Chandigarh, January 6 Sanaa found an easy prey in Chinese qualifier Yi-Miao Zhou as the Delhi girl outplayed her inexperienced rival in all departments of the game. Zhou was at sea as Sanaa executed her strokes with precision. In the five matches in the girls singles, Sanaa dropped just 20 games and won 48. Only in the semifinal against second seed Julia Glushko of Israel, Sanaa was extended to three sets. Earlier, top seed Rupesh Roy outplayed third seed Ivan Anakinov of Ukraine in straight sets 6-2, 6-4 in the boys singles final and later partnering Sumit Parkash Gupta, Roy defeated Chinese pair Chen-Yu Wu and Jie Li 6-2, 6-1 in the doubles final. Sania in association with Ksenia Palkina of Kyrgyzstan defeated Xuan-Yu Guo and Yi-Miao Zhou 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 in the girls doubles final. Rupesh Roy exhibited his skills in serve, ground strokes and volley against Ivan Anikanov. His backhand slices were also excellent. The Ukraine player displayed his brilliant forehand and on a number of occasions he caught Rupesh on the wrong foot, which fetched him good points. Rupesh stamped his authority on the first set with a 6-2 win. Rupesh, ranked of 48 in ITF Ranking, dominated the second set without any difficulty and few good aces also proved ‘killer’ for Anakinov and finally Indian won at 6-4 in the second set. Results: (all finals): Boys singles: Rupesh Roy (India) b Ivan Anikanov (Ukraine) 6-2, 6-4; girls singles: Sanaa Bhambri (India) b Q-Yi-Miao Zhou (China) 6-0, 6-0; boys doubles: Rupesh Roy and Sumit Parkash Gupta (India) b Wu chen-Yu and Li Jie 6-2, 6-1; girls doubles: Sanaa Bhambri (India) and Ksenia Palkina (Kgz) b Zhou Yi Miao and Guo Xuan-Yu 6-3, 4-6, 6-2. |
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Carlos Moya
enters semis
Chennai, January 6 Srichaphan bows out
Unseeded Belgian Kristof Vilegen authored a major upset when he defeated Paradorn Srichaphan of Thailand to storm into the semifinals of the Chennai Open ATP Tennis Tournament here today.
In a totally one-sided contest and so far the shortest of the tournament, lasting just 50 minutes, the 23-year-old Belgian won 6-1, 6-2 and in the process avenged last year's quarterfinal loss to the Thai last year at the Nungambakkam Stadium. Rohan-Prakash in quarters
Rohan Bopanna and new-found partner Prakash Amritraj remained the only hope for India as the top-seeded pair of Leander Paes and Martin Damm bit the dust, losing to unseeded Michal Mertinak and Petr Pala in the quarterfinal last night. Bopanna, whose loss to fifth seed Gilles Muller ended India’s challenge in the singles, made amends in the company of Amritraj, moving into the quarterfinals with a 6-3, 6-3 upset win over third seeds Yves Allegro (Switzerland) and Michael Kohlmann (Germany). Paes and Damm lost 6-3, 3-6, 6-10.
— UNI, PTI |
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Didar guides Sultans to 3-2 win Chandigarh, January 6 The match went into extra time after the scores were level at 2-2 in regulation time. In the first half of extra time, Didar scored the match-winner by converting a penalty stroke. He was adjudged the player of the match. Argentina’s Jordi Quintana opened the account for the Lions by converting a penalty corner in the 11th minute. Lions’ star player Rehan Butt of Pakistan gave his side a 2-0 lead in the 31st minute. In the 53rd minute, a penalty corner was awarded to the Sultans, which Didar converted with ease. In the 68th minute, Didar equalised for the Sultans by converting a penalty corner (2-2). In the first half of extra time, a penalty corner was awarded to the Sultans in the fifth minute. Didar’s drag-flick hit Jordi Quintana on the face, which resulted in a penalty stroke being awarded to the Sultans. Didar made no mistake with the stroke to win the match for the Sultans. As per the PHL rules, Hyderabad Sultans earned two points, while Bangalore Lions got one point from the match. Tomorrow, Maratha Warriors will cross swords with Sher-e-Jallandhar in a Tier I match (7 pm). In Tier II, Imphal Rangers will clash with Delhi Dazzlers (2 pm). Chennai Veerans thrash Nawabs Chennai Veerans thrashed Lucknow Nawabs 5-1 in a Tier II match of the Premier Hockey League here today. Lucknow Nawabs opened their account through a field goal in the 13th minute by forward Prateek Srivastav. The Veerans hit back through Raghunath, who equalised in the 22nd minute by converting a penalty corner. Gurbaj Singh struck for the Veerans in the 34th minute (2-1). Raghunath sounded the board in the 35th minute to make the score 3-1.Vikram Kanth converted a penalty stroke in the 40th minute and Raghunath converted a penalty corner two minutes later to enable Chennai Veerans to romp home 5-1.
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Centre of Excellence register win
Nabha, January 6 The Centre of Excellence will now take on Friends Club, Raikot, an outfit which has been substituted for Ideal Hockey Club, Lahore, in their next round match tomorrow. The Pakistani team has been entangled in visa problems with the Indian High Commission in Islamabad forcing the harried organisers to call in the Raikot team at the eleventh hour. In other matches of the day, Artillery Centre, Hyderabad, outclassed SSB, Gorakhpur, 2-1 while PSEB held their nerves in the tie breaker to post a 6-5 win against Eastern Railway, Kolkata. In the day’s last match, Jagraon police went down in the tie-breaker to Thapar Academy, Sansarpur, 4-5. |
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