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Ashes Test evenly poised
SC notice to govt, Prasar Bharti on ESPN plea
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PHL begins today
Malaysian hockey team disbanded
Nadal takes cricketing lessons
National Football League
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Proteas hit back
Cape Town, January 3 Earlier, Sourav Ganguly featured in a partnership of 68 with Sachin Tendulkar and another of 58 with Virender Sehwag. He himself produced a fighting 66, while the Mumbai maestro contributed a useful 64. Such efforts embroidered the highest total of an otherwise low scoring series, which should have been better, but for the last five wickets clattering for a paltry 19 runs. While India had prevailed on the first day, they hadn't streaked away with the game. The run rate had been below three an over and the triple strike by the South Africans in the last session had slightly pegged the visitors back. Therefore, the first hour on resumption, with the second new ball only nine overs old, was crucial. Indeed, Dale Steyn made it count with a perfect outswinger. It pitched on middle stump and curved just enough to clip off. VVS Laxman, who had shaped well by pulling and square cutting Makhaya Ntini and Shaun Pollock, respectively, for fours was, thus, nipped in the bud. And it could have been worse, as Ganguly endured a torrid reception. The first and third balls he faced, struck him on the chest guard and helmet. Indeed, the latter off a 140k Steyn bouncer warranted first aid and a new headgear. But once play re-started, the experienced left-hander put the embarrassments behind him with flowing strokes to match the movement of trains at the railway station behind the canopied western stands. He rattled the ropes nine times, including square driving Pollock, turning and pulling Ntini in one over, before slashing him through extra cover in another. Meanwhile, Tendulkar registered his 50 and the 300 of the Indian innings with a delectable flick to square leg off Ntini for four, having peerlessly straight driven the same bowler to the fence previously. But a sharply turning and jumping ball from Paul Harris - which was consumed by the lone slip - cut short an exquisite essay. Sehwag would probably have been excluded for this test but for intervention by his senior colleagues. He was clearly on trial. But stuck to his natural game and unlocked shots with a characteristic cleanness to produce a 50 ball cameo. Scoreboard India (1st innings) Jaffer c Kallis b Steyn 116 Karthik c Amla b Harris 63 Dravid c Bacher b Pollock 29 Tendulkar c Kallis b Harris 64 Laxman b Steyn 13 Ganguly c Amla b Pollock 66 Sehwag c Ntini b Harris 40 Kumble lbw Pollock 0 Zaheer st Boucher b Harris 1 Sreesanth c Gibbs b Pollock 3 Patel not out 0 Extras
(b-5, lb-4, nb-8, w-2) 19 Total (all out, 131.1 overs) 414 Fall of wickets:
1-153, 2-202, 3-240, 4-269, 5-337, 6-395, 7-395, 8-398, 9-407. Bowling: Steyn 27-12-58-2, Ntini 26-4-107-0, Pollock 291-9-75-4, Kallis 12-4-36-0, Harris 37-3-129-4. South Africa (1st innings) Smith not out 76 De Villiers c Karthick
Amla not out 50 Extras (b-6, lb-4, nb-7) 17 Total
(1 wkts, 41 overs) 144 Fall of wickets: 1-14. Bowling:
Zaheer 10-0-39-0, Sreesanth 11-4-36-1, Kumble 12-0-39-0, Patel 7-3-19-0, Sehwag 1-0-1-0.
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Ashes Test evenly poised
Sydney, January 3 England, 0-4 down and facing a rare series whitewash, are defending what appeared a below-par 291 in their first innings. Australia were 118 for two when the Australian captain attempted a risky single off left-arm spinner Monty Panesar. Ponting, cruising along without threat from the English bowlers, was caught out of his ground by a throw from James Anderson, fielding at mid-off. Australia’s big batting threat, with two centuries and 576 runs in the series, was well out of his ground and was sent on his way by the video umpire for 45 to give the tourists a crack at Australia’s middle-order. There were another repercussion for Australia when No.5 Michael Clarke was caught behind to give a recharged Steve Harmison his second wicket, which put pressure on the incoming Andrew Symonds, after a 70-minute rain delay, to re-state his Test credentials following his 156 in last week’s Melbourne Test. At stumps, Australia had stabilised to be 188 for four and trailed England by 103 runs with the consistent Mike Hussey on 37 off 98 balls and Symonds on 22 from 34 balls. Australia lost both openers — Justin Langer for 26 and Matthew Hayden for 33 — before tea. Langer followed up his three dropped catches in his 105th and final Test with a short stay before he gloved a leg-side catch off Anderson to wicketkeeper Chris Read. Hayden chased after a wide Harmison delivery and bottom-edged to Paul Collingwood at second slip, leaving the home side 100 for two in the 26th over. Earlier, England had lost their last six wickets for 57 off 18 overs to be dismissed for 291 shortly before lunch. Skipper Andrew Flintoff fought a lone vigil for 89 as the England tail crumbled around him after the side resumed at 234 for four. It was Flintoff’s best return of an undistinguished batting series coming in 195 minutes and including 11 boundaries and a six. Panesar, who was also dropped by the butter-fingered Langer, became Warne’s only wicket of the innings in his farewell Test match when he was adjudged lbw attempting to sweep, terminating England’s innings. It was also Warne’s 1,000th wicket in Test and one-day cricket combined — 707 Test and 293 one-day international wickets. He became the second bowler to achieve this feat. Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan heads the list of international wicket-takers with 1,104. Scoreboard England (1st innings) Strauss c Gilchrist b Lee 29 Cook c Gilchrist b Clark 20 Bell b McGrath 71 Pietersen c Hussey b McGrath 41 Collingwood c Gilchrist Flintoff c Gilchrist b Clark 89 Read c Gilchrist b Lee 2 Mahmood c Hayden b Lee 0 Harmison lbw b Clark 2 Panesar lbw b Warne 0 Anderson not out 0 Extras
(lb-5, w-3, nb-2) 10 Total (all out, 103.4 overs) 291 Fall of wickets:
1-45, 2-58, 3-166, 4-167, 5-245, 6-258, 7-258, 8-282, 9-291. Bowling:
McGrath 29-8-67-3, Lee 22-5-75-3, Clark 24-6-62-3, Warne 22.4-1-69-1, Symonds 6-2-13-0. Australia (1st innings) Langer c Read b Anderson 26 Hayden c Collingwood b Harmison 33 Ponting run out 45 Hussey batting 37 Clarke c Read b Harmison 11 Symonds batting 22 Extras
(lb-8, w-4, nb-2) 14 Total (4 wkts, 55 overs) 188 Fall of wickets:
1-34, 2-100, 3-118, 4-155. Bowling: Flintoff 6-0-31-0, Anderson 17-7-55-1, Harmison 16-5-34-2, Mahmood 4-1-15-0, Panesar 12-0-45-0.
— AFP
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SC notice to govt, Prasar Bharti on ESPN plea
New Delhi, January 3 The private sports channel accused the public broadcaster of putting pressure on it for sharing of the feed. A Bench of Mr Justice Ashok Bhan and Mr Justice Dalveer Bhandari issued notice to the Centre and Prasar Bharti, seeking their reply. ESPN alleged that from the beginning of the South African tour by the Indian team, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting had been putting pressure on it for sharing of the feed. The private sports channels had been resisting the government guidelines for mandatory sharing of the coverage of sports events by them with DD in which India participated. ESPN said it was open to the Prasar Bharti’s proposal to share the feed of South African tour of Indian cricket team provided it was paid Rs 3.5 crore to compensate the revenue loss. But the public broadcaster insisted on inserting its own ads in the shared feed, which could not be permitted. Star Sports said the DD had to show only a ‘clean feed’ and the deal could not get through with Prasar Bharti sticking to its stand.
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PHL begins today
Chennai, January 3 With the introduction of one-on-one Innovation for the first time, under which the player (who is to take the penalty stroke) has to dribble from the 25-yard line and score the goal within eight seconds instead of directly taking the stroke is all set to captivate the audience. This would be applicable even during tie-breaker if the teams finished on level terms after the extra time, the first half of which would be played under silver goal basis (the teams has to play the full half even after they scored the goal), and the second half on golden goal rule. Defending champions Bangalore Lions would be keen to retain the title and take home the prize money of Rs 40 lakh. However, they would be wary of runner-up Sher-e-Jalandhar. Other teams in the fray included Chennai Veerans, Maratha Warriors, Orissa Steelers, Chandigarh Dynamos and Hyderabad Sultans. The first leg will conclude on February 4 after which the teams will move to Chandigarh for the second leg (February 11 to March 1). The top two teams would play the best-of-three finals—scheduled on March 2, 4 and 5— to decide the winners. Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) President K.P.S Gill told reporters here today that with so much of foreign players showing interest to play in the PHL, a lot of Indian players would get exposure to International standards of hockey. Meanwhile, the foreign players hired this year were allotted to each team in consultation with the coaches. Foreign players Chennai Veerans: Albert Casas (Spain), Ahsan Ullah (Pakistan), Muhammad Zabair (Pakistan) Sher-e-Jalandhar: Don Prins (Netherlands), Imran Khan (Pakistan) Maratha Warriors: Cesco Van Der Vliet (Netherlands), Adnan Maqsood (Pakistan), Imran Warsi (Pakistan) Orissa Steelers: Tjeerd Steller (Netherlands), Salman Akbar (Pakistan), Adnan Zakir (Pakistan) Bangalore Lions: Thijs De Greff (Netherlands), Sander Van Der Weide (Netherlands), Rehan Butt (Pakistan) Chandigarh Dynamos: Balder Bomans (Netherlands), Sajjad Anwar (Pakistan), Timo Bruinsma (Netherlands) Hyderabad Sultans: Sebastian Westernout (Netherlands), Shakeel Abbasi (Pakistan), Tariq Aziz (Pakistan).
— UNI, PTI
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Malaysian hockey team disbanded
Kuala Lumpur, January 3 The Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) has also appointed a new coach, Sarjit Singh, who is charged with ensuring that the new side of mostly national juniors qualifies for the 2012 London Olympics. The federation’s management committee felt it would be “too taxing” to set Sarjit and the new squad the target of qualifying for the 2008 Beijing Games, the New Straits Times said. “We will be looking at young players, especially those who took part in the Rotterdam Junior World Cup, to form the core of the national team,” said MHF deputy president Tunku Abdul Majid Sultan Iskandar. “The committee has decided to rely on youth, but if Sarjit wants, he can call up a few seniors to attend his camp,” he said. The new squad will have its first outing at the Azlan Shah Cup in May, and the Korat Sea Games in December, the daily said.
— AFP
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Hopman Cup: India’s dream run continues Melbourne, January 3 The Indians then won the decisive mixed doubles tie against the brother-sister combine 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 in a thrilling encounter which lasted 79 minutes at the Burswood Dome, marked by a heavy attendance from India fans. Sania, ranked 65th in the world, attributed the win to her ability to handle crowd pressure. “I’ve played in front of big crowds before, and I think that helped me,” the Indian star said. India, who had shocked third seeds Czech Republic 2-1 in their opening tie on Sunday, next meet Spain, represented by world No. Tommy Robredo and Anabel Medina Garrigues in their final group match. A win against Spain would see the unseeded Indian pair cruise into Friday’s final, which would be a creditable effort considering it is their Hopman Cup debut. The Croatians, who needed to win to stay alive in the tournament, looked good as they won the first set, but Sania and Bopanna lifted their game to draw level before winning a tense tiebreak. Looking ahead to her next encounter, Sania said India had nothing to lose. “We are the underdogs. Tommy (Robredo) is top 10 and (Anabel) Medina Garrigues is top 30, so we really are the underdogs. “We’ll just try our best and I’ll try and give us a 1-0 start like in the other two matches and see what happens,” said Sania who had qualified for the tournament by winning the Asia Hopman Cup in her hometown Hyderabad along with Bopanna. Sania, who has achieved many firsts for India, produced another impressive performance in the women’s singles to beat Sanja in straight sets. The Indian started with three aces in her first service game and produced 12 of her 19 winners while Ancic hit just eight in the first set. In the other match of the day, Czech Republic kept their hopes alive with a win against Spain. The Czech pairing of Lucie Safarova and boyfriend Tomas Berdych notched up a 2-1 win against the second seeded pairing of Medina Garrigues and Tommy Robredo. Despite losing the tie, Spain can still reach the final as they had beaten Croatia in their opening tie.
— PTI
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Moya, Malisse in quarters
Chennai, January 3 Earlier, third seed Xavier Malisse of Belgium took his place in the quarterfinals with a 6-3, 6-2 win over unseeded Stefano Galvani of Italy. Moya, who won the title here in 2004 and 2005 and was runner up last year, was down 1-2 in the first set after a break in the third game, but broke back to level scores (2-2) and then went on to win the set with a crucial break in the 10th game. Backed by the moderate crowd that had thronged to mainly see him in action, the 30-year old Spaniard, who sported a trademark sleeveless ‘T’ shirt, set up three set points after making spectacular retrievals, including a running forehand winner, in the game to take the set. Moya’s ability to put in extra power to hit the ball harder is his strong point. The Spaniard, ranked 43, struggled with his first serves, but wriggled out of tight situations with ripping forehands.
— PTI
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Nadal takes cricketing lessons
Chennai, January 3 The tennis ace even hit a ‘six’ during the 10-minute “friendly match” played on a 16-yard pitch and was excited throughout as he hit a few wonderful shots much to the joy of the spectators. The left-hander said he enjoyed the game and was looking forward to playing it again. The Spaniard said he was honoured to receive tips from Srikkanth, a dashing bat during his heydays. The former skipper was all praise for Nadal’s acumen “for line and length.” Srikkanth gave Nadal the background about the popularity of cricket in India and exchanged notes on tennis. “I told him that tennis, however, is as popular as cricket in India, as is football following the 2006 World Cup’, Srikkanth told mediapersons. Srikkanth said he also had words of encouragement for Rastogi hoping that he would soon be among the top 25 or even higher in world ranking and that the Mumbai lad must work for it. Nadal said ‘he would be carrying home a cricket bat to get more familiar with the sport. The next time I come back I will be better at it’, he said in jest. The star of the Chennai Open, Nadal, said it was the same (nice) feeling as tennis, to play cricket. He said it was also nice to play friendly cricket with Rastogi before the real tennis contest against him tomorrow.
— PTI, UNI
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Sukhwinder pins hopes on JCT
M.S. Unnikrishnan
New Delhi, January 3 That two-year period was one of the most productive phases of JCT when they won most of the other major titles in the country like the Durand Cup, IFA Shield and the Rovers Cup with élan. But the Punjab club failed to repeat their NFL title win in the subsequent editions because of their inability to cobble together a well-balanced combination (Mohun Bagan and East Bengal won the NFL trophy thrice each while Salgaocar, Dempo and Mahindra United won it once each). In an interesting coincidence, JCT had lost to Churchill Brothers in their opening match of the NFL at Ludhiana before working their way up to top the table and pip Churchill Brothers to the title by just one point 30-29. Since then, JCT have been hovering on the periphery, finishing fourth or fifth, and they hit a low last year when they slumped to the sixth slot. “But we never slipped to the danger zone to threaten our relegation”, remarked JCT coach Sukhwinder Singh, after the team checked into their hotel rooms in Old Delhi here today. JCT will take on Mohammedan Sporting, Kolkata, coached by former Indian player Subhash Bhowmik, in the opening match of the NFL, to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the Ambedkar Stadium here on January 5. Sukhwinder said JCT drew the curtain on 2006 on a confident note after helping Punjab lift the Santosh Trophy and then finishing runners-up in the Durand Cup. The Punjab team, who annexed the Santosh Trophy in Haryana last year, consisted mostly of JCT players, barring the goalkeeper. Sukhwinder, who was the national coach for four years till he was replaced by British coach Bob Houghton early this year, said the JCT team suffered heavy drain of talent with the formation of FC Cochin and Mumbai-Bengal teams. While FC Cochin poached six of their star players, including I.M. Vijayan, Joe Paul Ancheri and Carl Chapman, Mumbai-Bengal weaned away eight players. While the foreign recruits — Sunday Ambrose Nwafer, Chidi Edeh and Adebaya Tokunbo Adewusi — are expected to play key roles in the team’s strategy, recruits from other Indian clubs like goalie Kalyan Chaubey, P Renedy Singh, Sunil Chetri and Bimamyu Bimal Biru, would be vital cogs in the team machine, as well. Though All-India Football Federation (AIFF) president Priyaranjan Dasmunshi stated categorically, at a media briefing here today, that there will be no change in the federation’s policy of allowing clubs to have three foreign players in each of the teams in the 11th edition of the NFL, which may be reviewed next year, Sukhwinder had a different take on it. He said the induction of so many foreign players in the NFL was intended to improve the standard of Indian football. But the 10-year NFL experience has proved otherwise. “Our national team have not benefited much from the presence of foreign players in the NFL which can be judged from the present standing of the senior team. Secondly, the NFL has not been able to attract top quality foreign players. Third, when we have foreign players in our team for key positions, we cannot bench them either as every match in the NFL is crucial for the teams.
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National b’ball Philippoussis out Cricket tourney
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In video: Jaffer ton
frustrates South Africa. (
