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India-South Africa series Tigers win by one run
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Bowlers’ nightmare ends
Sachin out of 2nd Test Sachin Tendulkar has been ruled out for the second Test to be played in Ahmedabad because of an groin injury. Middle-order batsman Mohammad Kaif will replace him in the Indian squad.
Chennai, March 30 The 32-year-old McKenzie, who made 94 in the first innings, continued his amazing comeback to the South African team by batting out the whole day on a docile M A Chidambaran pitch which showed no signs of any drastic deterioration even on the fifth day. The Indian bowlers needed to put up an extra-ordinary display to pull off an unlikely victory but the wickets were hard to come by as the Proteas played cautiously to score 331 for five before play was called off. Resuming at the overnight score of 131 for one, McKenzie and his overnight partner Hashim Amla (81) batted through most of the morning session to dent India's chances of forcing a result in the high-scoring contest. Though the Indian bowlers got rid of the dangerous Jacques Kallis (19), Ashwell Prince (5) and AB de Villiers (11) cheaply, McKenzie held up one end with his 445-minute vigil at the crease. With the pitch offering absolutely no assistance to the bowlers, the batsmen ruled the roost as a whopping 1498 runs were scored by the two teams over five days of Test action which saw many batting records tumble. The two teams will now travel to Ahmedabad for the second Test beginning from April 3. McKenzie and Amla steered the visitors to safety with a resolute 153-run second wicket partnership which frustrated the Indian bowlers. However, Indian captain Anil Kumble succeeded in providing the breakthrough close to lunch by dismissing Amla (81). Forcing Amla stretch forward and misjudge the turn of the ball, the leggie got him caught at lone slip by Rahul Dravid with the team score on 210. Amla survived two chances when his individual scores were 55 and 72 to Harbhajan and R P Singh. First, he was dropped by Sreesanth at fine leg when he swept and then R P Singh failed to hold on to the return catch. The day started on a sedate note as the Indian bowlers never posed any problem to McKenzie and Amla who stuck to their task, though couple of times, they were beaten by both Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble. The pacemen lacked speed and their deliveries coming up slowly after pitching was to the liking of the batsmen. Harbhajan did manage to beat McKenzie on a couple of occasions early on. S Sreesanth, who came in place of Kumble in the third over, was as usual aggressive and teased Amla with short-pitched deliveries while some balls kept low. But Amla and McKenzie applied themselves well and chose the loose deliveries to keep the scoreboard ticking. Amla duly reached his 50 and brought up the 100-run partnership for the second wicket with a well-struck boundary off a full toss from Sreesanth shortly before the first drinks break. Amla, however, missed an opportunity to join the elite group of 64 players in the world who have scored centuries in the each innings of a match. Harbhajan (3-97) dismissed Jacques Kalis (19) and Ashwell Prince (5) in successive overs but his effort came too late in the day. Mckenzie, playing his 43rd Test, reached his fourth three figure mark in a methodical manner soon after lunch, steering Kumble to the third man boundary twice in the same over. He took 277 minutes and faced 184 balls with 11 fours. Kallis, who failed with the bat in the first innings also making 13, was out to a superb catch at square leg by Rudra Pratap Singh, who dived to his left in the air to clutch the ball.
— PTI Scoreboard South Africa (1st innings) 540 India (1st innings) 627 South Africa (2nd innings) McKenzie not out 155 Smith lbw Harbhajan 35 Amla c Dravid b Kumble 81 Kallis c R.P. b Harbhajan 19 Prince c Jaffer b Harbhajan 5 De Villiers c Ganguly b Sehwag 11 Boucher not out 11 Extras (b-8, lb-5, nb-1) 14 Total (5 wkts, 109 overs) 331 Fall of wickets: 1-53, 2-210, 3-264, 4-272, 5-306. Bowling: Sreesanth 12-0-42-0, R. P. Singh 9-1-43-0, Harbhajan 34-1-101-3, Sourav 2-1-1-0, Kumble 20-2-57-1, Sehwag 22-2-55-1, Laxman 10-2-19-0.
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Kumble blasts ‘flat’ track
Chennai, March 30 "We expected the wicket to have more pace and spin. We thought it would start turning in the fourth and fifth days, but it did not. It was tough to bowl on a pitch as flat as this and in such heat," a disappointed Kumble said after the drawn match. "Probably because of rain ahead of the Test, there was lack of preparation of the pitch. Hopefully, the wicket would be better prepared in Ahmedabad. I hope we get a result there," he said. Kumble, who did not take field for most part of the post-lunch session today due to a niggle in the bowling arm, was confident that he would be 100 per cent fit for the second Test in Ahmedabad starting on April 3. "I did not want to take chance, so I took rest. I should be 100 per cent okay before second Test," the leg-spinner said. The Indian captain was all praise for two milestone men, Virender Sehwag and Rahul Dravid. "The way Viru batted, it was a treat to watch. He not only batted most of the sessions, he also did most of the scoring." Kumble also could not hide his happiness on his Karnataka team-mate Rahul Dravid joining the 10,000-run club. "He is a great player. I have the privilege to see each run he scored in his career. I am happy for him." Though disappointed at not being able to bowl the opposition out, the Indian captain praised the South Africans for denying success to the hosts. "The South African batsmen batted extremely well and we have to sit down and plan for the next two matches," said Kumble. South Africa captain Graeme Smith was satisfied with his team's performance and said he would take lots of positives from this Test. "We've got some really good cricket under out belt over the last five days. Our batters had a good Test match. There are a lot of positives from this match and hopefully if we get into a good position in Ahmedabad, we can be a bit more ruthless," he said. Smith also backed his bowlers who were treated with disdain by Virender Sehwag for most part of the India's first innings. "I was pretty comfortable with the way we bowled. Obviously Virender (Sehwag) played a tremendous knock. Our bowlers have immense talent and they're learning to bowl in different conditions around the world," he said. Triple centurion and man of the match Sehwag felt he would have been happier had India won the Test. "It was a good Test for me but unfortunately we couldn't win the match. We're happy with our performance," the dashing opener, who scored the fastest triple hundred, said. "I never planned to play like that but I decided to bat the full day to make best use of this flat track. I'm happy with my effort. (Wasim) Jaffer and I started well and we capitalised on that. "I was very tired at the end of the (third) day and I thought I would go after the bowling but Dravid told me if I stay there then I can score more runs next day."
— PTI |
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Dhoni leads like Cronje: Kirsten
Mumbai, March 30 Kirsten felt Anil Kumble, the Bangalore stalwart who leads India in Tests commanded great respect from his team, but the swashbuckling wicketkeeper-batsman from Ranchi was more charismatic as he could get the best out of his team. "Anil Kumble commands great respect from his team. He is a performer of note and has done it for many, many years. He is a tremendous person and brings in his personal qualities to the job", Kirsten has told cricket portal www.cricnirvana.com in an interview. "Someone like Dhoni is more charismatic. He just backs himself and completely believes in his ability. He has got an unbelievable knack of getting the players under him to feel the same. He has the ability to get the best out of his players. That's a great quality, which I was fortunate to have under Hansie Cronje," Kirsten said. Kirsten said that after his recent interaction with Sachin Tendulkar, against whom he had played a lot of cricket, he felt that the champion batsman was enjoying his game more than ever before and also perhaps eyeing a half century of three-figure knocks in Test cricket (Presently he has 39 to his credit). "I asked him (Tendulkar) about the whole retirement thing. He is eyeing, may be, 50 Test 100s. It's a long way to go for him, 11 more to go. It could take him 11 Tests or 25-30 Tests to achieve that - who knows. But the important thing is that he is enjoying his game now, more than ever and wants to keep playing," the Indian coach said. On his experience of working with the master batman, Kirsten said Tendulkar was an exceptional player still willing to learn and improve his game like any other champion of the sport. "We know Sachin is an exceptional player. I remember playing much cricket against him. It was quite enjoyable watching him bat, even when we were trying to get him out. There is nothing much you can do about his game technically. He is very clever about his game and understands it well. It will be a real privilege to work with a great player like him," he said. "But like any other champion of the sport, he is still willing to learn and improve his game. I haven't seen an individual who really wants to perform every time he walks onto the field and let's not forget the expectations he carries on his shoulders. He is a very humble man who respects the game. He is a fantastic team man," Kirsten added.
— PTI |
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India-South Africa series
Just like in boxing where the boxers use the first couple of rounds to spar and assess the opponent, the Indians and South Africans did a reconnaissance of each other's strengths and weaknesses in the first Test. Both teams have nobody like Mike Tyson who can deliver the first round knockout punch and so will have to play the waiting for the other to lower his guard moment to land a blow. The placid nature of the pitch as well as the searing heat in Chennai would have made the most hard hit blow feel like a tickle, not that the pitches and the weather at Ahmedabad and Kanpur are going to be much different.
The bowlers of both teams will be hoping that there will be something more in the surfaces for them than at the Chidambaram stadium where the bat totally dominated the ball. There were some spirited performances from the bowlers as can be seen from the five-wicket haul that Harbhajan Singh took in the first innings and the four wickets that Dale Steyn got towards the tail-end of the Indian innings. Both these bowlers are feisty customers who like to be on top of the batsmen but what was remarkable was that they did not let the pitch lessen their effort as they went all out to get their prey and what was even more admirable was that both these bowlers, who like to have a bit of a chirp at the batsman, were able to go through the long frustrating spells without opening their mouths. The ICC directive seems to be working and if anybody has the temerity to suggest that the cricket was less competitive or less intense because there were no words spoken needs to go to a shrink. Makhaya Ntini is a great example of a bowler who will bowl his heart out for his country without getting into the verbals that simply demean the sport and may his tribe increase. Hopefully the BCCI which has led the campaign to eradicate this cancer from the sport will put their house in order first by taking action against those who flout the ICC directive. Neil Mackenzie who missed out on a century made sure that he did not do so second time around and his unbeaten knock was marked by tremendous concentration. Once again he showed a different method of tackling the off-spin of Harbhajan by playing back to most of the deliveries. Of course the pitch had slowed down so that he had the time to wait on the backfoot for the ball to do its bit and then play his shot and since there was not much turn he was able to play it without too much bother. Hashim Amla is another batsman who does not get the credit that he deserves back home and he too batted superbly while using the opposite method to get right to the pitch of the ball and smother any turn that may have been imparted by the spinners. India's new ball bowlers were totally out of sorts and if Ishant Sharma is fit, then he should straightaway be back in the team. Even with him in the side it's not going to be easy to dismiss this Proteas team which is showing great application to the task and will be hard to beat on these kind of pitches.
— PMG |
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Gurgaon, March 30 Chasing 143 to win, Giants could manage 141 for eight in their quota of 20 overs. Requiring 14 runs in the final over, bowled by former South African all-rounder Lance Klusner, the Delhi team scored 12. Klusner removed dangerous looking T Sudhindra, who along with wicket-keeper batsman D Yagnik kept their team in the hunt after a middle-order collapse. Giants began well with openers Avishka Gunawardene (35) and M Mishra (27) scoring 41-runs in just four overs. M Hayward drew the first blood by sending back Mishra when he had him caught by skipper Craig McMillan. Then spinner Upul Chandana (3/15) ran through the middle-order. Earlier, Klusener hit an unbeaten 62 to help Tigers reach a competitive 142 for four in 20 overs. Klusener shared a 57-run stand with opener Deep Dasgupta (35). Badshahs triumph Hyderabad: Lahore Badshahs asserted their supremacy as they scored a 11-run victory over Ahmedabad Rockets in an ICL Twenty20 league match at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium here on Sunday. The Badshahs, led by former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq, first scored 151 for nine and then restricted Rockets to 140 for six. Hasan Raza (43) was the top-scorer for the winners. — PTI
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Man Singh sets new national record
Patiala, March 30 There were some unexpected twists in the tale today as fancied Mariaj Ahmed Khan, the reigning national skeet champ, who was widely tipped to win the title, faltered after doing well in the qualifying rounds. On the other hand, it was a superb show of shooting skills from Man Singh which finally enabled him to win the showdown with Mairaj Khan and runners up A. D. Peoples. With today’s showing Man Singh also erased his national record by shooting a total of 141 points (116 plus 25). Earlier, the youngster had created the junior national record by shooting a total of 140 points at Jaipur last year. After having scored 116 at the end of the five qualifying rounds, Man Singh, a BA final student of Delhi’s Hansraj College, added a perfect 25 to his tally to bring it to 141. Earlier, on a blistering hot day when the last two qualifying rounds were to be held, A. D. Peoples, who was in the forefront after the first three qualifying rounds yesterday, led the pack with Mairaj Khan and Man Singh being placed a joint second. However, Peoples faltered in the final lap, ending the crucial round with with just 22 points. National champ Mairaj Khan, who for some inexplicable reason lost his grip over the proceedings, ended the final with a total score of 137 after shooting a poor 21 in the final round. MP Naveen Jindal slid down to the 12th place in the final reckoning. Meanwhile, Man Singh also won the junior title while Smit Singh and Mohammad Shiraz Sheikh followed in that order. The prizes were distributed by Jai Singh Gill, Chairman, Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission. |
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Centurian golf meet
Chandigarh, March 30 Gaganjeet set the greens ablaze as he shot eight birdies to equal the course record of seven under par 65 and seemed all set to clinch the title going ahead of Mukesh with a birdie on the 17th hole. For a brief moment Mukesh also seemed in despair as he hit his club on the ground. But the 18th hole saw Mukesh return with a birdie. With the two finishing at the top of the leaderboard at 274 after 72 holes the first playoff saw the experienced Mukesh converting a 12-foot putt into a birdie. On the other hand Gaganjeet approach shot saw the ball roll over the green which he failed to chip in for a birdie. Thus Mukesh clinched the issue. Gaganjeet may have played a great game,but it must go to the credit of Mukesh, that he did not loose his cool. Experience finally triumphed. Mukesh started the final day with a five stroke lead over his nearest rival Gaganjeet Bhullar. However, the 42-year-old veteran looked a nervous starter as he bogeyed the first two holes. He then picked up birdies on the third, fifth and sixth. Mukesh made the turn at level par after dropping a bogey on the eighth. The professional from Mhow then played a solid back nine by making seven pars and two birdies (13th and 18th). The overnight leader almost let the title slip as Bhullar caught up with him on the 16th and then took a one stroke lead on the 17th. But Mukesh struck back with a birdie on the 18th to be tied with Bhullar. The match then went to a playoff and Mukesh edged out Bhullar on the first playoff hole by making a 12-foot putt for birdie. Bhullar on the other hand landed his approach shot over the green and then could not chip-in for a birdie. Gaganjeet played some outstanding golf to give me a very tough fight. He has a great future and will only get better with experience." Gaganjeet Bhullar (69, 69, 71, 65) was unfortunate to miss out on his first professional win despite firing 65 to equal the course record of the Chandigarh Golf Club on Sunday. Bhullar began his fourth round with a bogey on the first hole. He then closed the gap between himself and Mukesh by playing some incredible golf by sinking birdies on the fourth, fifth, ninth, 12th, 13th, 15th, 16th and 17th. The 19-year-old from Kapurthala who has come close to winning a pro title on a few occasions before, said, "I thought I played really well today but am disappointed to miss out on the title.” Manav Jaini (71, 70, 70, 71) finished third at six under 282. His fourth round of 71 included six birdies and five bogeys. Chandigarh's Harendra Gupta (71, 72, 68, 72) was fourth at five under 283. Vijay Kumar (69, 69, 72, 75) was two strokes behind Gupta in fifth place. Arjun Singh (72, 74, 70, 72) ended in tied 10th place at even par 288. Digvijay Singh (76, 72, 70, 72) continues to be second on the PGTI Order of Merit after finishing tied 17th with a total of two over 290. |
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