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SA top order makes merry
Panesar spins England to series win
Gavaskar not yet told to quit: BCCI
Sunil Gavaskar writes
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Lehal’s team wins pro-am title
CA says no to ban on sledging
Shagun breaks national record
Tigers beat Lions by 22 runs
Anand out of title race
‘Indian hockey needs to start afresh’
Windies need 267 runs to win Test
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Chennai, March 26
After openers Neil McKenzie (94) and Graeme Smith (73) set the tone for the day, South Africa dominated all three sessions to finish day one at 304 for four. The visitors got off to a perfect start with McKenzie and Smith, barely three weeks after their world record opening stand against Bangladesh, forging yet another century partnership to lay the foundation for a big total. Though their batting mainstay Jacques Kallis, otherwise a familiar India nemesis, returned before he could make a substantial mark in the match, Hashim Amla (85 not out) took it on his able shoulders to build on the platform. At stumps, Amla (85) and AB de Villiers (10) were in the middle and they would return tomorrow hoping to further swell the tally. On a day thoroughly dominated by the batsmen, Anil Kumble was the pick of the Indian bowlers, claiming two for 61, while his spin twin Harbhajan Singh got as many for 92 runs. After winning an important toss, Smith predictably decided to take first strike on M Chidambaram Stadium's flat strip. With India's new ball attack of RP Singh and S Sreesanth looking pretty pedestrian, even though the Kerala speedster did beat Smith's tentative bat on a couple of occasions, Smith stood vindicated. Smith and McKenzie looked in a positive frame of mind as they negotiated pace and spin with aplomb, maintaining a healthy run rate of four per over. Kumble pressed himself into service as early as the 11th over but the breakthrough continued to elude the hosts. Smith also had his slice of luck when a diving Dhoni could not properly pouch an inside edge off Sreesanth and spilled the ball while getting back to his feet. The Indians made a vociferous appeal but umpire Asad Rauf was not impressed. Kumble finally gave the team something to cheer about but not before Smith had cobbled together a 132-run stand with his partner. The Indian skipper induced a drive from his opposite number which found VVS Laxman's outstretched hand at short mid-wicket. Smith's 73 came off 97 balls and included 13 boundaries. McKenzie, however, looked unperturbed and continued in the same fashion. His occasional moments of discomfort against Harbhajan Singh notwithstanding, the right-hander was impressive and looked certain for a century before the off-spinner did him in 10 minutes before tea. McKenzie went on the front foot to defend a delivery only to edge it to Rahul Dravid at the lone slip to fall just six shy of a well-deserved ton. McKenzie's 156-ball knock was studded with 18 hits to the fence. Kallis (13) has an impressive record against India but today was not his day as the veteran all-rounder returned via a bad-pad catch at short leg to give Harbhajan his second wicket of the day. South Africa were 244 for three at that stage. Next man in Ashwell Prince (23) too looked keen to get some runs under the belt and got the start as well. Kumble, however, ensured that he did not go on when the leg-spinner dived across to take a sharp catch off his own bowling. All along, Amla remained confidence personified and the right-hander shunned extravagance but never shied away from going after loose deliveries. He played some gorgeous drives off the front foot and negotiated spin quite well. Amla faced 159 balls and hit 10 boundaries en route to his unbeaten 85. Scoreboard South Africa (1st innings): Smith c Laxman b Kumble 73 McKenzie c Dravid b Harbhajan 94 Amla batting 85 Kallis c Jaffer b Harbhajan 13 Prince c and b Kumble 23 A B De Villers batting 10 Extras (b-1, lb-4, w-1): 6 Total: (4 wkts in 90 overs): 304 Fall of wkts: 1/132, 2/196, 3/244, 4/291 Bowling: RP Singh 14-1-68-0, S Sreesanth 15-3-60-0, Kumble 29-8-61-2, Harbhajan 26-2-92-2, Sehwag 6-1-18-0. — PTI
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Panesar spins England to series win
Napier, March 26 New Zealand, chasing an improbable 553 to win, were bowled out for 431 in their second innings to give England victory by 121 runs and a 2-1 triumph in the series, their first overseas success since South Africa in 2005. Debutant Tim Southee top-scored with 77 not out, including nine sixes, and his half century, off 29 balls, was the fastest by a New Zealander in Tests. Panesar, who took three wickets to spark a familiar collapse of New Zealand's batting on the fourth day, finished with career- best figures of six for 126. They were spoiled by Southee's barrage, however, with his three-over spell after lunch going for 31 runs. Panesar captured the valuable wickets of Ross Taylor (74) and Brendon McCullum (42) in the morning to end New Zealand's chances of batting out the day. New Zealand won the first Test by 189 runs and England the second by 126 runs. It was the third time New Zealand have lost a three-Test series after winning the first match. They also lost a series 2-1 in South Africa in 1994-95 and in Sri Lanka in 1997-98. Scoreboard England (1st innings): 253 New Zealand (1st innings): 168 England (2nd innings): 467-7 dec New Zealand (2nd innings): How lbw Panesar 11 Bell c Broad b Panesar 69 Fleming c Ambrose b Panesar 66 Sinclair c Ambrose b Broad 6 Taylor c Collingwood b Panesar 74 Elliott c Bell b Broad 4 McCullum b Panesar 42 Vettori c Ambrose b Anderson 43 Patel c Broad b Panesar 18 Southee not out 77 Martin b Sidebottom 5 Extras (b-6, lb-5, w-4, nb-1): 16 Total (all out in 118.5 overs): 431 Fall of wickets: 1-48, 2-147, 3-156, 4-160, 5-172, 6-276, 7-281, 8-329, 9-347 Bowling: Sidebottom 19.5-3-83-1, Anderson 17-2-99-1, Broad 32-10-78-2, Panesar 46-17-126-6, Collingwood 2-0-20-0, Pietersen 2-0-14-0. — Reuters
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Gavaskar not yet told to quit: BCCI
New Delhi, March 26 During India's acrimonious tour of Australia, Gavaskar had been scathing in his criticism of the world champions' on-field behaviour and the handling of Sydney racism row by ICC match referee Mike Procter. His outbursts clearly did not go down well with some quarters and according to 'The Times', last week's ICC executive committee meeting in Dubai took a unanimous decision to oust the batting great from the Cricket Committee, which he has been heading since 2000. BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah, however, dismissed the claim and said, "Media speculation about removal of Sunil Gavaskar as Chairman of the Cricket Committee of the ICC based on a report in a London paper is incorrect. ICC has confirmed to the Indian board that there has been no decision to remove Sunil Gavaskar." He, however, admitted Gavaskar would explain his columns to ICC representatives. "ICC representatives may discuss with Sunil about some of his media articles and report back to the Executive Board in its next meeting," Shah said in a statement. Earlier, an ICC spokesman told PTI that the issue was raised indeed in the Dubai meet where members felt Gavaskar's dual roles were in conflict with each other and he should choose between the two. However, the committee decided against removing Gavaskar as it felt it would be better to give him the option of deciding what he wants to do. "Gavaskar will meet CEO Malcolm Speed in Dubai this week to discuss this matter," the ICC spokesman said. Gavaskar has lucrative deals as a television commentator and a newspaper columnist and this is likely to weigh on his mind when he decides on whether to continue as ICC's Cricket Committee chief. A BCCI source said despite the outburst, the ICC wants to have Gavaskar on board. "The ICC has lot of respect for Gavaskar and it does not want to take such a step of removing him. The ICC wants to have Gavaskar on board as cricket committee chairman," the source said. In case Gavaskar decides to quit the ICC job, it would mark the end of his eight-year stint, after he took over from West Indian cricketer Clyde Walcott in June 2000. Gavaskar has lambasted the western media which steadfastly opposed BCCI's effort to have IS Bindra as the next ICC CEO. — PTI
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Hosts put on the defensive
India-South Africa series The importance of a good solid foundation was seen to great effect on the first day of the Chennai Test when South Africa managed to finish in a strong position despite a wobble or two in the middle of the day. Graeme Smith not only won the toss but along with his partner Neil McKenzie gave a brilliant start to the innings. What it did was to straightaway put the hosts on the defensive. On an overseas tour the first session of a Test match pretty much indicates what is going to be the pattern for the rest of the series. Of course cricket being the funny game that it is, that can be overturned by a spirited performance as was seen in the New Zealand - England series that England won after losing the first Test. McKenzie has just made a magnificent comeback to the South African team but he matched Smith stroke for stroke. What was most impressive was the use of the feet to the spinners and whenever Harbhajan flighted the ball McKenzie was quick to go down the pitch to him and either loft it or smother the turn. In recent times most overseas batsmen have adopted a different tactic of playing the Indian spinners. No longer do they jam bat and pad together as they stretch to play the ball. Instead they play with the bat well in front of the pad and that seems to be working. Jacques Kallis, who has been in superb form, stuck to the old method of jabbing with bat and pad together and paid the price being caught at forward short-leg. However, the method of reaching out to the spinning ball also has it's dangers as it can lead to a batsman playing with hard hands, thereby getting the ball to bounce a lot more if he does get an edge. That's how McKenzie missed out on a century when his thick outside edge carried to Dravid at slip. Smith too couldn't go on to a ton but both had eased the nerves in the dressing room with the start that they gave their side. Hashim Amla also has been in great nick and while there is an awkwardness about his pick-up of the bat, his strength is his temperament. He is cool, unflustered and after a watchful beginning he can play some fine shots. He ensured that the start given by the openers wasn't wasted and, in fact, consolidated the position by another good partnership with McKenzie after Smith's dismissal. Ashwell Prince, who batted so well against India when India visited South Africa at the end of 2006, got going but was unable to convert it to a big score. The catch that Kumble took to dismiss him would have done a teenager proud and once again underscores that it is talent and not age that should matter at the highest level. The lack of match practice for Sreesanth and R. P. Singh was clear from the way that they bowled though it must be said that it is never easy to bowl fast in the sapping heat of Chennai. It was their waywardness that allowed South Africa to get off the blocks and thus play the spinners with more confidence when they came on to bowl. It is going to take something special from the Indians to restrict South Africa to less than 400. Maybe, the new ball bowlers will change for the better on the second morning with the second new ball. Therein lies India's chance of stopping the Proteas from piling up a match-winning total. — PMG
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Lehal’s team wins pro-am title
Chandigarh, March 26 The winning team collected 121 points in the event which was played on a team stableford format wherein the professional score was compulsory along with two best amateur scores over 18 holes. Trailing by five points was seasoned Chandigarh pro Harmeet Kahlon and his team of C.S.R. Reddy, J.S.Grewal and Roshan Sunkaria. Chiragh Kumar's team finished with 112 points for the second runner-up slot. His amateur players were A.S. Aulakh, Brigadier Punia and G.S. Jawanda. Ashbeer Saini had the longest drive of 280 yards on the 16th hole. Col Navkesh Singh had the straightest drive on the sixth hole. It was 3.5 inches from the centre of the fairway. The prizes for the closest shots to the pin were won by Avirat Sundra (9 feet - hole no. 3), Sanjay Talwar (15 feet 9 inches - hole no. 11) and Saurabh Mangat (4 feet 5 inches - hole no. 14). The contest today gave the amateur golfers from Chandigarh an opportunity to play alongside some of the top professional golfers of the country. With the main Rs 25 lakh prize money contest starting tomorrow, 19-year-old Gaganjeet Bhullar and Chandigarh caddie turned pro Harendra Gupta appear to be among the favourites going by their form and their past performance on the Chandigarh greens. Gaganjeet will bank heavily on his big swing which has shown a vast improvement. The big hit will be the most important weapon in the armoury of the Kapurthala boy who is all set to conquer the greens. For Harinder Gupta the Chandigarh course has been a happy hunting ground. Harinder said: "I feel very confident heading into the Centurion Bank of Punjab Open as I have played most of my golf at the Chandigarh Golf Club and therefore have the advantage of local knowledge. Besides I also have a good record here, having won the 2004 and 2005 editions of Hero Golf Chandigarh at this course. The Chandigarh-based golfer, who has made steady progress in Indian professional golf over the last few years, recalls his humble beginnings in the sport. "I was 15 years old when I took to caddying at the Chandigarh Golf Club in 1999. From then on golf became my life. I used the money I earned as a caddie to buy a second-hand golf set. I then started practising hard and as a result won five events at the junior level in 2000. Thereafter, I dominated the amateur circuit from 2001 to 2003 before turning professional in 2004," said Gupta. Harendra Gupta will lead a powerful local challenge. The other Chandigarh golfers in the field include Harmeet Kahlon, Amandeep Johl, Uttam Singh Mundy, Amritinder Singh, brothers Ranjit Singh and Randhir Singh Ghotra, Gurbaaz Mann, A S Lehal and Sujjan Singh.
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Melbourne, March 26 "Cricket Australia's (CA) position is that the ICC code of conduct already covers this issue," a CA spokesman was quoted as saying in The Herald Sun. "A total ban on sledging had not been supported," he added. The CA official argued that even if a total ban is imposed, conflicts related to verbal abuse would be decided only on the basis of the existing code and, therefore, it was not necessary to completely do away with on-field banter. Meanwhile, former Australian captain Mark Taylor has ridiculed the ICC's "zero tolerance" approach to sledging, saying a football style card-system instead of a blanket ban on onfield showdowns was the right way to deal with the problem.
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Shagun breaks national record
Patiala, March 26 Shagun got a score of 69/75 at the end of the three qualifying rounds to break the record of 68 set by Seema Tomar at the 2007 nationals. She won the event with a total score of 86 (69+17). The second position was bagged by Varsha Tomar (59+16=75), while Seema Tomar (53+17=70) finished third. In the juniors (women) event, Shreyasi Singh stood first with a score of 64 points (49+15). At the end of the three qualifying rounds in the men’s trap event, Mansher Singh was leading with 72 points, followed by Zorawar Sandhu (70). Manavjit Sandhu, Birendeep Sodhi and Anwar Sultan were joint third with 69 points. The last two qualifying rounds will be held tomorrow.
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Tigers beat Lions by 22 runs
Gurgaon, March 26 Set a target of 166, Lions lost half their side with just 59 runs on the board in the 11th over and were all out for 143 in 18.2 overs. However, a 50-run partnership for the seventh wicket between TP Singh (34 off 23 balls) and Manish Sharma (23 off 16 balls) did provide some hope to them but the latter was removed by Andre Adams as the tail failed to wag against some disciplined bowling by Tigers. Earlier, a 72-run stand between Lance Klusener (38) and Jhunjhunwala for the second wicket set the stage for the Tigers to go for the onslaught in the last six overs. Jhunjhunwala scored a well-paced 62 off 57 balls with five fours and a six. For the Lions, who registered their second defeat in two days, Andrew Hall was the pick of the bowlers claiming three wickets in four overs for 37 runs.
— UNI |
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Anand out of title race
Nice (France), March 26 Anand’s form in the rapid game was found wanting once again as the Indian blundered a pawn for little compensation after earlier drawing the blindfold game. The loss put Anand decisively out of the reckoning for the top honours after Armenian Levon Aronian scored a resounding 2-0 victory over Alexander Morozevich of Russia. Aided by the fine triumph, Aronian took his tally to 12.5 points in the overall standings and stretched his lead to 2.5 points over nearest rivals Vladimir Kramnik of Russia, Peter Leko of Hungary and Magnus Carlsen of Ukraine. Ivanchuk and Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria share the fifth spot jointly on 9.5 points each, while Anand slipped to the seventh spot with nine points.
— PTI |
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‘Indian hockey needs to start afresh’
Chandigarh, March 26 Charlesworth, who has been appointed by the Indian Hockey Federation as its technical adviser, is of the view that all is not lost despite the debacle in Chile recently. “Definitely, it would take time to put things into place. There are lots of resources but these are not well utilised. We have to start with a new programme to revive the game. It is not an overnight job as no one has a magic wand,” said Charlesworth, who was in the city to finalise the setting up the Centre of Excellence (hockey) in association with the UT administration. “During my meeting with IHF chief KPS Gill, I expressed my views forcefully that there was a need to change many things here. I hope that Gill would take my suggestions into account,” he said. Charlesworth, who has been supervising the preparations of the women’s team for next month’s Olympic qualifier, observed that the girls had only 50-50 chances of securing the Beijing ticket. He expressed resentment that he was without an office and a residence even four months after taking up the IHF job. “My family has been waiting all these months in Australia to come here. It’s unfair that I have to travel from one place to another with my luggage for my professional assignments,” Charlesworth lamented. |
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Windies need 267 runs to win Test
Miami, March 26 Sri Lanka bowled out the hosts for 280 yesterday morning and then scored 240 for seven before declaring midway through the evening session. Malinda Warnapura, who scored a maiden Test century in the first innings, top-scored in the second with 62. Stand-in opener Dwayne Bravo, promoted ahead of the out-of-form Chris Gayle, made 83 before being caught and bowled by Muttiah Muralitharan today, while Ramnaresh Sarwan was unbeaten on 51. West Indies now need 267 runs to win the Test. Earlier, West Indies, who started the fourth day on 269 for 9, avoided the follow-on before Thilan Thushara dismissed last-man Darren Powell at slip. Thushara finished with three for 59.
— Agencies |
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The South African top order feasted on India's lacklustre bowling attack under a searing sun and on an unresponsive track as the visitors hogged the opening day honours in the first cricket Test here today.
Napier, March 26
Chandigarh, March 26
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