The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Kumble, Zaheer rock Australia
Hayden, Jacques provide Oz a 135-run opening stand
Ashis Ray

Melbourne, December 26
One session doesn’t constitute a summer! This was the lesson of the first day in the opening cricket Test of four, as India, inspired by the indefatigable Anil Kumble — who posted a return of five for 84 — spiritedly fought back to share the honours with Australia.

The match was, in fact, delicately balanced, with the hosts, thanks to a characteristically hard-hitting century from Matthew Hayden, on 337 for nine at stumps after winning the toss.

The traditional Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) is a grand occasion in the annual cricketing calendar. As many as 70,000 spectators packed the stands at this venerable venue. It is a vital engagement for India, who must ideally avoid defeat so as not to present a psychological advantage to the world champions.

Menacingly, Australia have won every single Test here after losing to England in 1998. And the way they escaped unscathed when the Kookaburra ball (which, despite a less pronounced stitching than the Dukes) swung and seamed in the first two hours to be 111 for no loss, the tourists were staring down a Kalashnikov.

Kumble, however, seized the initiative by spearheading the dismissals of three batsmen after lunch and two more following tea.

Had Hayden been caught at gully by Kumble — a sharp chance — off Zaheer Khan when the prodigious run-getter was 68, India might have bundled out the opposition for below 300.

Less expensively, Yuvraj Singh missed a possible run out of Michael Clarke and Mahendra Dhoni grounded a glance off Andrew Symonds. Sourav Ganguly and Rudra Pratap Singh’s ground fielding was appalling.

The barrel-chested Hayden duly completed his 28th Test century, 19th in Australia and fifth at the MCG in his last six appearances. The Australian batting, otherwise, apart from a half-century by co-opener Phil Jaques, untypically capitulated.

Jacques, confronting the Karnataka sorcerer for the first time, failed to pick an angled top-spinner to find himself hopelessly out of his crease.

Zaheer, then, produced the delivery of the day from around the wicket, which slanted in before cutting away to rattle the top of the dangerous Ricky Ponting’s off-stump.

Following this, Kumble again deceived a batsman encountering him for the first time — this time the prolific Mike Hussey — with a flighted googly which slid through to strike the back pad. At 165 for three from 135 for none, India had made a comeback.

A boundary to long-off heralded Hayden’s hundred before tea. But soon after this break, Rudra Pratap swung one away from Clarke from around the wicket to have him caught at second slip. The slide was now under way.

Hayden departed softly, caught at mid-on. Symonds pulled a faster ball to midwicket. And Adam Gilchrist was foxed when Kumble tossed up a wrong ‘un and holed out at point.

Indeed, but for umpire Mark Benson failing to decipher an inside knick from Mitchell Johnson to backward short leg, the Indian skipper’s haul would have been half a dozen.

But the runs on the board render the Aussies competitive, especially in view of their venomous attack, which has Brett Lee and Johnson capable of operating at 150 kmph and Stuart Clarke a metronome in the Glenn McGrath mould.

Australia, though, maintained their convention of choosing at least one specialist spinner by giving Brad Hogg, rather than Shan Tait, the nod.

India, too, unimpressed by speculation about the “drop -in” pitch being damp, opted for an off-spinner instead of a third seamer and “the turbunator” — Harbhajan Singh — who has a phenomenal record against Australia at home, especially in 2001.

It was a sensible example of playing to a team’s strength. Indeed, if the pitch conspires with spin more than pace in the latter stages of the match — as seem likely — this may transpire to be quite justified.

Scoreboard
Australia (1st innings)

Jacques st Dhoni b Kumble 66

Hayden c Dravid b Zaheer 124

Ponting b Zaheer 4

Hussey lbw Kumble 2

M Clarke c Laxman

b RP Singh 20

Symonds c Karthik b Kumble 35

Gilchrist c Tendulkar b Kumble 23

Hogg c Dravid b Zaheer 17

Lee lbw Kumble 0

Johnson batting 10

S Clarke batting 21

Extras (lb-5, w-1, nb-9) 15

Total (9 wkts, 90 overs) 337

Fall of wickets: 1-135, 2-162, 3-165, 4-225, 5-241, 6-281, 7-288, 8-294, 9-312

Bowling: Zaheer 22-1-93-3 RP Singh 19-3-77-1 Harbhajan 20-3-61-0 Ganguly 3-1-15-0 Kumble 25-4-84-5 Tendulkar 1-0-2-0.

	This 5-wkt haul very special: Kumble Melbourne, December 26 India captain Anil Kumble said his five-wicket haul on the opening day of the first Test against Australia today was the best of his career. Kumble's five for 84 off 25 overs dragged his side back into the match after Matthew Hayden and Phil Jaques posted a daunting unbroken century partnership by lunch. "To be honest, (this performance is) probably the top of everything," Kumble told reporters after grabbing his 35th five-wicket haul in Tests. "To get it on the first day of the Boxing Day test, the first Test of the series, against Australia, it is a very special one." He described India's comeback in the Boxing Day Test against Australia as "exceptional" and said it was now on the batsmen to apply themselves and consolidate the position for the team. Kumble, who led from the front by picking up five wickets, said the track was on the slower side but there was no reason why his batsmen could not put up a big score if they applied themselves. "I've always believed that the first innings of the first Test of a series is very important and we've done exceptionally well after being on the back foot at lunch, so I'm very pleased with the way everyone's performed today," Kumble said after the opening day's play which saw Australia scoring 337 for 9. "At 135 for no loss, it was important that we came back well into the Test match. The wicket of Jaques, and Zaheer bowled Ricky Ponting with a beauty and then things started to happen," he said. Though Kumble thought that his pacers did not have enough luck early on, he expressed satisfaction over the way things fell in place for India. "We were a bit unlucky earlier on, both RP Singh and Zaheer bowled brilliantly initially, but you should also give credit to the way Matt Hayden and Phil Jaques batted. At the end it was a good day for us." "The intensity was good after lunch and we kept at it, we kept coming hard at Australia", he said. "I'm really happy with the way the bowlers bowled and to get nine wickets on the first day after losing the toss. I think it was a brilliant effort," Kumble said. But, Kumble said now his team had to put up a big total after polishing off the Australian tail. "We're still in the game, so I think it's important that we finish off Australia's remaining wicket and then get a big score," he said. "The wicket is definitely on the slow side, but if you apply yourself there are runs to get, Matt Hayden showed that, and if our batsmen apply themselves then it will happen." The 37-year-old Indian captain said that he got the complete support of his team mates who wanted him to concentrate on his bowling. "I had this problem when I played in India as a captain and when I held back and was not bowling, the rest of the players asked why I had stopped so I kept bowling," he said. "So today I had to do that and it's important that I ensure I bowl the number of overs that I need to bowl as a bowler and I was really happy with the way things went today," Kumble added. — Agencies
	Highlights of Day 1 Anil Kumble became the third Indian bowler to claim five wickets in an innings twice at Melbourne, joining Bhagwat Chandrasekhar and Kapil Dev. Kumble became the fourth bowler to capture 10 five-wicket hauls or more (in 15 Tests) against Australia, joining Richard Hadlee (NZ) - 14 in 23 Tests; Sydney Barnes (England) - 12 in 20 Tests and Tom Richardson (Eng) 11 in 14 Tests. Kumble has now claimed 35 five-wicket hauls and only Muttiah Muralitharan (62), Shane Warne (37) and Richard Hadlee (36) have claimed more five-wicket hauls than Kumble. Kumble became the third Indian captain to bag five wickets in an innings against Australia, joining Bishan Singh Bedi (thrice during the 1977-78 series - twice at Perth and once at Brisbane) and Kapil Dev (Adelaide, 1985-86). Sourav Ganguly became the seventh Indian player to appear in 100 Tests or more, joining Sachin Tendulkar (143), Kapil Dev (131), Sunil Gavaskar (125), Anil Kumble (122), Dilip Vengsarkar (116) and Rahul Dravid (116). India became the second nation in Test annals to achieve the feat of featuring four players (Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble and Sourav Ganguly) with 100 or more appearances in the same Test squad. The Australian team was the first to achieve the distinction during the 2006-07 Ashes series against England when Justin Langer, Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Ricky Ponting appeared together. Matthew Hayden (124 off 183 balls) registered his 28th hundred, fourth against India. Only Ricky Ponting (33), Steve Waugh (32) and Don Bradman (29) have recorded more hundreds than Hayden for Australia. Hayden's 124 is his sixth hundred at MCG — the last three in successive innings — 137 vs South Africa in 2005-06; 153 vs England in 2006-07 and 124 vs India in 2007-08. Hayden recorded his second successive hundred against India at MCG. In the 2003-04 Melbourne Test, he had made 136 and 53 not out. Only Bradman has registered more hundreds (9) than Hayden (6) at MCG. Hayden, during the course of his innings, became the sixth batsman to amass 1,000 runs or more at MCG. Bradman (1671 in 11 Tests) holds the record for most runs at this venue. Rahul Dravid, with Hayden's catch, overtook Mark Taylor's tally of 157, moving into the fourth place in the list of all-time leading fielders. His tally of 159 catches is exceeded only by Mark Waugh (181), Brian Lara (164) and Stephen Fleming (161). Phil Jacques (66) registered his fifth 50-plus score in succession. The 135-run stand between Hayden and Jaques is Australia's second best for the first wicket against India at Melbourne, next only to the 191 between Bobby Simpson and Bill Lawry in 1967-68. The aforesaid partnership is Australia's first century partnership in 32 innings. — PTI
	Gayle hits South Africa hard Port Elizabeth, December 26 Marlon Samuels survived two close calls to help West Indies stay on top in the first Test against South Africa today. Samuels, who was 44 not out, took West Indies to tea on 190 for three. Samuels faced 117 balls, which contrasted with Chris Gayle's whirlwind half century that made South Africa rue their decision to put West Indies in to bat. Gayle, who passed a fitness test on the hamstring that he injured in a one day international against Zimbabwe three weeks ago, was captaining West Indies for the first time in a Test and fired his 66 off 49 balls with 13 fours. Gayle and Darren Ganga scored freely against a pace attack that wasted the new ball by bowling an inconsistent line and length. Change bowler Andre Nel made the breakthrough 45 minutes before lunch when Ganga, who scored 33, drove recklessly at a wide delivery and was caught behind by wicketkeeper Mark Boucher to end the opening stand at 98. — Reuters Scoreboard West Indies (1st innings) Gayle c Kallis b Harris 66 Ganga c Boucher b Nel 33 Morton c Prince b Ntini 33 Samuels not out 44 Chanderpaul not out 5 Extras (lb-5, nb-3, w-1) 9 Total (3 wkts, 55 overs) 190 Fall of wickets: 1-98, 2-102, 3-166. Bowling: Steyn 16-0-71-0, Ntini 13-1-57-1, Nel 13-4-36-1, Harris 7-3-15-1, Kallis 6-3-6-0.
	Kiwis cruise to win over B’desh Auckland, December 26 New Zealand produced a morale-boosting performance as they romped to a six-wicket win over Bangladesh in their one-day cricket international here today, the first of a three-match series. Set a modest target of 202 on the short boundaries of Eden Park, opener Jamie How set the platform with a patient 88 before Scott Styris ended the game with a towering six in the 43rd over. Following heavy defeats to leading cricket nations Australia and South Africa in the past two months, New Zealand were desperate to stem the slide against the minnows of international cricket. "We wanted to win comprehensively, but we had to understand we're going through a bit of a rough patch," a relieved New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori said. But Vettori acknowledged his decision to send Bangladesh in to bat first appeared to have backfired when Mohammad Ashraful was in full flight, plundering boundaries with 70 off 57 balls. "I think the way Ashraful played took the game away from us for a certain period of time," Vettori said. But New Zealand's fortunes turned on one wayward ball from Jacob Oram. With Bangladesh racing along at five an over, Ashraful belted the Oram delivery straight to Peter Fulton at deep mid-wicket, triggering a sensational collapse. Bangladesh were then 150 for four after 29 overs, and in the space of the next 20 balls, they added just four more runs and lost three wickets to be 154 for seven. Mashrafe Mortaza (17) and Abdur Razzak (not out 22) added some life to the tail before the Bangladesh innings ended at 201 in the 43rd over. Despite New Zealand's batting shortfalls in recent months, they were never in trouble on the ideal batting wicket. How and Brendon McCullum started with a 90-run opening partnership before a lack of concentration by McCullum (40) saw him lob a full toss straight back to Farhad Reza. Fulton (35) joined How to add another 67 for the second wicket. Fulton's dismissal, followed by How and Ross Taylor (8) in quick succession left Styris to end formalities with his second six to remain unbeaten on 25. — AFP Scoreboard Bangladesh T.Iqbal c Gillespie b Oram 50 J.Siddique c Gillespie b Mills 13 A.Ahmed c Fulton b Gillespie 8 Ashraful c Fulton b Oram 70 S.Al Hasan b Gillespie 6 M.Hossain c How b Oram 3 M.Rahim c McCullum b Gillespie 0 F.Reza c Styris b Mills 4 M.Mortaza c Oram b Mills 17 A.Razzak not out 22 S.Hossain run out 3 Extras: (w-4, nb-1) 5 Total (all out, 46.3 overs) 201 Fall of wickets: 1-27, 2-39, 3-136, 4-150, 5-151, 6-151, 7-154, 8-170, 9-177, 10-201 Bowling: K.Mills 10-2-46-3, C.Martin 10-1-35-0, M.Gillespie 8-0-27-3, Vettori 9-0-48-0, Oram 8.3-1-36-3, Styris 1-0-9-0 New Zealand How c Ahmed b Al Hasan 88 McCullum c & b Reza 40 Fulton c M.Hossain b Al Hasan 35 Styris not out 25 Taylor lbw Al Hasan 8 Sinclair not out 1 Extras: (lb-4, w-2) 6 Total: (4 wkts, 42.4 overs) 203 Fall of wickets: 1-90, 2-157, 3-173, 4-194 Bowling: M.Mortaza 8-0-37-0, S.Hossain 8-0-29-0, A.Razzak 10-0-44-0, F.Reza 5-0-21-1, S.Al Hasan 9.4-0-56-3, M.Ashraful 2-0-12-0.
	Himachal restrict Rajasthan to 218 Kulwinder Sandhu Tribune News Service Dharamsala, December 26 Superb bowling by Himachal’s V.S. Malik, who took four wickets, restricted Rajasthan in the first innings to 218 runs on the second day of the Group A match of the Super League of the Ranji Trophy today. Chasing the score of 280 put up by Himachal, Rajasthan started from their overnight score of 5 for no loss and lost the wicket of VA Saxena who was out leg before wicket to Malik for five in the second over. S. Vijay played a fine knock of 88 with 12 fours and one six before he was caught by wicketkeeper Bisla on the bowling of Bhatia. R Bishnoi made 34 runs from 102 balls before being stumped by Bisla off the bowling of Sharandeep Singh at the team score of 120. On the same score, NS Doru was also caught by Bisla in the next over of Malik. R. Bisht was clean bowled by Malik on zero, NG Gehlot scored 16 runs before he was caught by Bisla on the bowling of Thakur, RB Jhalani scored 20 before being caught by Sandeep Sharma on the bowling of Bhatia. SG Gehlot made 12 runs before being given leg before wicket on the bowling of Thakur while M Aslam made only 1 run and was run out by Bhatia. The last man to be dismissed was S Mathur who made only four runs while Shamsher Singh remained not out on 5. For Himachal, wicketkeeper Bisla had one stumping and took three catches while VS Malik took four wickets. In the second innings, Himachal Pradesh made 19 runs without losing any wicket at stumps on the second day. Scoreboard Himachal Pradesh (1st innings): 280 Rajasthan (1st innings): VA Saxena lbw Malik 5, S Vijay c Bisla b Bhatia 88, R Bishnoi st Bisla b Sarandeep 34, NS Doru c Bisla b Malik 25, R Bist b Malik 0, NG Gehlot c Bisla b Thakur 16, RB Jhalani c Sandeep b Bhatia 20, Shamsher Singh not out 5, SG Gehlot lbw Thakur 12, M Aslam run out 1, S Mathur c Sarandeep b Malik 4 Extras: (lb-1 nb-7) 8 Total: (all out, 81.2 overs) 218 Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-72, 3-120, 4-120, 5-157, 6-190, 7-195, 8-209, 9-211 Bowling: AK Thakur 25-4-83-2 VS Malik 18.2-3-51-4 V Bhatia 11-4-24-2 Sarandeep 27-4-59-1 Himachal Pradesh (2nd innings) M Gupta batting 8, Sandeep Sharma batting 10 Extras: (nb-1) 1 Total: (7 overs) 19 for no loss Bowling: S Mathur 3-2-3-0, SG Gehlot 2-0-15-0, M Aslam 2-1-1-0.
	Orissa Steelers steal the show Akash Ghai Tribune News Service Chandigarh, December 26 Chennai Veerans today conceded a third defeat in a row in as many matches when they surrendered meekly to Orissa Steelers 0-3 in the fourth edition of Premier Hockey League match at Hockey Stadium, Sector 42, here today. For defending champions Steelers too, this is the first win in the tournament in their four outings. The victory added three more points to the Steelers kitty, having two points earlier (total five points) while Veerans, yet to open their account, are at the bottom of the table. It seemed that Veerans took on the field only to defend their post as throughout the match, no member of the team could leave any impression. On the other hand, Steelers capitalised on the lackadaisical approach of the rivals to bring off their first victory by netting three field goals. Earlier, the match, which got off on a dull note in the first quarter, picked up momentum in the second quarter with some clinical attacks made by the Steelers forwards Roshan Minz, Ignace Tirkey, Sunil Ekka and Damandeep Singh. The team forced three penalty corners (23rd, 29th and 37th minutes) but all went in vain. Immediately after the first penalty corner, Prabodh Tirkey send a pass to South Korean Kim Chul, who gave a clean pass to Eliazar Lakra, who was at the right side of striking circle. Wasting no time, Lakra shot a reverse hit to find the net in the 26th minute of the game. After taking the lead, Steelers raided the ‘D’ area many times. During the attacks, some golden chances were also missed. In the third quarter, Steelers put their rivals out of the match by netting two goals in as many minutes. In the 41st minute, Birendra Lakra shot from the edge of the circle but rival goalie Sreejesh stopped the attempt but the ball fumbled and Sunil Ekka just tapped in to make it 2-0. In the very next minute, Joga Singh collected a pass off Roshan Minz from the top of the circle. Joga made no mistake to seal 3-0 victory for Steelers. The Veerans did not match the speed and skills of the rivals. They could not pose any challenge to the defence line of Steelers with any of their moves. William Xalxo was declared Man of the Match. Warriors are leading the table with seven points with Chandigarh Dynamos in the second place with six points. Hyderabad Sultans, Sher-e-Jalandhar and Bangalore Hi-Fliers share the third spot with Orissa Steelers with five points each.
	Liberals Hockey Air Force, Ropar Hawks win Ravi Dhaliwal Nabha, December 26 Air Force, New Delhi, beat lightweights Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB), Patiala, 3-1 while the law of averages finally caught up with SRC, Ramgarh, who after three successive wins, had to bite the dust against EME, Jalandhar, going down to them 1-2 on day four of the 32nd All-India Liberals hockey tournament played at the Ripudaman College grounds here today. In other matches, Ropar Hawks once again put up an impressive show to wallop Romi XI 3-2 while Punjab and Sind Bank, New Delhi, tamed Ideal Hockey Club, Lahore, 1-0. PSEB, who were once a force to reckon with on the domestic circuit, wilted under sustained pressure piled up by their much formidable rivals. There were some intital sparks from their strikers in the early stages of the contest but the powermen failed to build up on the pressure they created. It was during this period that PSEB went up 1-0 when full back Yadvinder Singh sounded the board from the team's first penalty corner. That was all the powermen could do as Air Force came back roaring like a wounded tiger. Their strikers simply pulverised the rival defence but the all-important goal seemed to elude them despite the fact that their forwards could be seen trampling all over their opponent's territory. However, the second half saw Air Force flying high with Varinder Singh scoring the equaliser with a blistering hit right through the custodian's legs. Veteran Baldev Singh added to the powermen's woes when he scored from an acute angle. Three minutes later, a controversial goal finally sank whatever hopes PSEB must have nurtured of bouncing back. Strikers Davinder Singh's shot kissed the pole before rolling into the goal leading to vociferous protests from the powermen. However, after lengthy confabulations, umpires A.S Negi and Davinder Singh finally ruled in favour of Air Force leaving them victorious by a 3-1 margin.
	Sania, Bopanna ready for Hopman Cup New Delhi, December 26 Unperturbed by the tough draw of the Hopman Cup, Sania Mirza exuded confidence that she and Rohan Bopanna are prepared to pose a strong challenge to their formidable rivals in the Mixed Team Championship starting in Perth from Saturday. India, placed in Group B along with the United States, Australia and Czech Republic, face the Americans, who have reigning Australian Open champion Serena Williams partnering Mardy Fish, in their opening encounter. Sania, who prepared for the grind with Bopanna at the Bhupathi Tennis village in Bangalore, said they are battle hardened to face the heat in the $1 million event at Burswood Dome. "We have a very tough draw, having been pitted with the USA, Australia and Czech Republic. But Rohan and I are ready to give it our best shot," Sania told PTI. Sania and Bopanna have got a direct entry for this year's Hopman Cup after their sensational showing last year. — PTI
	Railways, Uttarakhand enter semifinals Puducherry, December 26 Birender Singh's blitzkrieg of 18 points and Jasjot Singh's stunning three pointers in the crucial last quarter helped Railways shut out Tamil Nadu 97-87 to storm into the men's semifinals of the 58th Senior National Basketball Championship here today. Star-studded Uttarakhand prevailed over a fighting Kerala 87-77 with former Indian captain Trideep Rai leading the attack scoring 40 points, in another quarterfinal. In a thriller, Railways, the 2005 champions, were staring at defeat trailing by 17 points (55-72) at the start of the last quarter, but Tamil Nadu surrendered the advantage with their defence crumbling down. Jasjot Singh, who scored three three-pointers early in the last quarter, and Birender Singh turned the match around with some breathtaking shooting as Railways levelled scores 76-all and then led 78-76 within the first five minutes. Railways scored 22 points as against just four by Tamil Nadu. Yadwinder Singh also got into the act soon and Railways shooters backed by a solid defence increased the margin to 91-84 in no time. Birender grew in confidence and was able to penetrate the Tamil Nadu defence and find the hoop consistently. Tamil Nadu, who lost to Punjab in their last league match yesterday, wilted under pressure and missed even easy baskets while their rebounds, both offensive and defensive, left much to be desired. Tamil Nadu, who persisted with the starting line up for most part of the match, brought in Harish, who played brilliantly in their match against Punjab yesterday, with just four-and-half minutes left for the final hooter. Though he scored a couple of baskets, including a three-pointer, it was too late. Star shooters Lokesh Yadav, Sukhavaneswar, Vineeth Revi Mathew and Chandrasekaran, who excelled in the first three quarters, seemed out of touch. Earlier, Tamil Nadu began on a confident note taking 27-17 lead at the end of the first quarter and then 52-32 at the half-time with Vineeth, Lokesh Yadav and Sukhavaneswar doing the scoring with steady passes from Suresh Kumar. The towering Vineeth excelled in rebound collections also as the Railways found the going tough. The third quarter saw Tamil Nadu holding on to their lead with Chandrasekaran sprearheading the attack. Railways showed improvement in their defence before dominating the fourth quarter to pour cold water on Tamil Nadu's dream of regaining the title which they won in 2003. An elated Railways Coach Ram Kumar credited the victory to good defence in the fourth quarter. "In the first quarter, our defence was not good. But we improved it later. We knew we can come back any time and went all out," he said. Jasjot Singh (24) top scored for Railways while Yadwinder Singh (17) Snehpal Singh (15), Birender Singh (15) were the other important contributors. For the losers, Lokesh Yadav (21), Vineeth (17) Sukhavaneswar (15) and Chandrasekaran (16) were among the scorers. In the other quarterfinal, after an evenly fought first quarter, Uttarakhand led 41-33 at the half-time. Kerala, who continued to be handicapped by the absence of a tall player, fought back well in the third quarter but could not stop their superior rivals from winning the match. Uttrakhand raised their game in time to emerge triumphant. Suresh Ranot (17) and Murali Krishna (10) were among the other scorers for Uttarakhand while Vijo B and Manoj continued with their good form to score 18 and 21 respectively. — PTI
	Harikrishna 2nd in Carlos Torre New Delhi, December 26 Grandmaster P Harikrishna finished second in the Carlos Torre Memorial knockout chess tournament after losing to World No. 2 Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine 1-3 in the final in Mexico. Harikrishna played impressively throughout the event and even beat Ivanchuk in one of the Classical games before he was beaten in the tiebreaker. Harikrishna started the event with a 1.5-0.5 victory over Gilberto Hernandez of Mexico and drew the second game with difficulty. In the second round, German GM Meier Georg was at the receiving end against the Indian. In the semifinals, Harikrishna defeated Jesus Nogueiras of Cuba winning the second game in impressive fashion to eventually win by a 0.5-1.5 margin. In the first game of the final, Harikrishna failed to find his rhythm against Ivanchuk and went down. In the second game, the Indian outplayed the second highest rated player in the world to set the stage for tiebreak games. — PTI