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Bhajji’s bunny scores ton
Ponting proves Greg right
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Siddique leads B’desh to rare win
CT: PCB may go for alternative venues
ICL season-2 begins today
Sania to lead Asia-Pacific
Indian shuttlers shine in Bulgarian GP
Chalana, Prashad win Adventure Trial
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Bangalore, October 9 Ponting notched up his maiden ton in India and his 36th overall to steer the visitors to 254 for four in their first innings at close on the opening day. Electing to bat, the Australians suffered a huge jolt when they lost the dangerous Matthew Hayden (0) in the third ball of the day off paceman Zaheer Khan but Ponting and Simon Katich (66) steadied the ship with a resolute 166-run second-wicket stand. The Australian captain dispelled all doubts about his ability to score runs on the slow tracks here with a solid batting exhibition which frustrated the home team on what seemed to be a good batting track at the Chinnaswamy stadium. Michael Hussey (46) was at the crease at stumps on the opening day which saw the Australians losing Michael Clarke (11) in the last over of the day to allow the Indians come back onto the game to some extent. The visitors proved that the below-par performance in the warm-up game against Board President's XI in Hyderabad had no bearing on them as the batsmen negotiated the Indian attack with ease. With just four specialist bowlers in their ranks, the hosts found the going tough in hot and humid conditions but the wickets of Ponting and Clarke late in the day came as a relief. Ponting entered the match determined to make up for a poor record in India after starting the series with just 172 runs from eight Tests in the country. He came into bat after just three balls but did not allow the early dismissal of Hayden to rattle him. He began on a rather sedate note and started playing his shots only after the post-lunch session. Ponting, whose previous best score in India of 60 came in Kolkata in 1998, looked the more aggressive in the partnership of 166 with Katich although Ishant Sharma struck his pads on a couple of occasions and forced a nasty inside edge while the Australian was on 78. Ponting hit 13 boundaries during his 243-ball knock. Harbhajan Singh, who had claimed the wicket of the Australian captain on eight occasions, brought an end to Ponting's innings by trapping him leg before much to the delight of the Indians. Paceman Zaheer then brought some cheer for the hosts by getting rid of Clarke in the last over of the day, trapping him in front of the wicket with an incoming delivery. The Aussies owed their recovery to Ponting and Katich who came into the team in place of Phil Jaques and justified his selection with a solid knock. Katich was cautious before lunch but started to unleash a few strokes after the lunch break and never really seemed troubled by the two Indian spinners Harbhajan and Kumble. The Indians could not have asked for a better start to the four-match Test series with pace spearhead Zaheer Khan removing Hayden (0) in the very third ball of his opening spell. Hayden, playing his first Test since a nagging achilles tendon injury ruled him out of the West Indies tour in June, edged a fuller length delivery bowled close to off stump and Dhoni accepted a low catch in front of him. Ponting, who became the fourth batsman to play in 200 Test innings after Allan Border and Waugh twins, Steve and Mark, negotiated the Indian attack with Katich at the other end with a sense of purpose. Australia preferred right hand batsman and leg break googly bowler Cameron White for off spinner Jason Krejza in their eleven making the latter their 12th man. — PTI Scoreboard Australia (1st innings) Hayden c Dhoni b Zaheer 0 Katich c Dhoni b Ishant 66 Ponting lbw Harbhajan 123 Hussey not out 46 M Clarke lbw Zaheer 11 Extras (lb-5, w-1, nb-2) 8 Total (4 wkts, 89.2 overs) 254 Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-166, 3-226, 4-254 Bowling: Zaheer 17.2-4-39-2, Ishant 16-3-49-1, Harbhajan 25-6-71-1, Kumble 27-4-84-0, Sehwag 4-0-6-0.
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Ponting proves Greg right
Jaipur, October 9 Though most were skeptical about the claim owing to Ponting’s poor run in India and seeing his discomfort against young spinners during net practice in Jaipur, Ponting has proved the confidence of Chappel in him was not misplaced. Chappel’s ‘guru mantra’ to Ponting that he should play as he does in the country also seemed to have proved fruitful, “I have told Ponting to play the ball with his own technique and system that he trusted all these years. Problem comes when he tries to play out of his system.” Chappel spent most of the time supervising batting practice of Ponting and Clarke at the nets in Jaipur. |
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n
Harbhajan Singh has dismissed Ponting on nine occasions in 10 Tests — the most times Ponting has been dismissed by any bowler.
n When his score reached 24 during his innings of 123 off 343 balls, Ricky Ponting has moved past India’s Sunil Gavaskar’s run-aggregate of 10,122 in 125 Tests. n
Ponting, playing in his 200th Test innings, registered his 36th hundred — his sixth against India in 20 Tests and his first in India in nine Tests. n
Ponting’s tally of 36 centuries is exceeded only by India's Sachin Tendulkar (39). n
Ponting, with the hundred equalled the Australian record of six hundreds each by Matthew Hayden and David Boon against India. n
Ponting’s 123 off 243 balls is his maiden hundred against India in India, eclipsing his 60 at Kolkata in 1997-98. n
Ponting’s hundred against India at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium is his 16th as skipper, setting a record for most Test centuries as captain, bettering the record of Allan Border and Steve Waugh, who both had hit 15 hundreds. n
Simon Katich (66 off 149 balls) recorded his fifth half-century against India — his ninth in Test cricket. n
The 166-run stand between Katich and Ponting is Australia’s best for the second-wicket at
Bangalore, bettering the 78 between Allan Border and Andrew Hilditch in 1979-80. This stand is now the second best by an Australian pair for the wicket against India in India, next only to the 204 between Neil Harvey and Jim Burke in the 1956-57 Mumbai Test.
— PTI |
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Ganguly lashes out at selectors
Kolkata, October 9 Ganguly said there was no point in carrying on playing cricket if he was treated in such a manner while some of the other players were spared. "There is no point playing like this. I am not willing to play at their (selectors') mercy. They will pick you now and then dump you. Why should I be the sacrificial goat all the time? It was difficult to accept," Ganguly, who announced his retirement from international cricket on Tuesday, said. "If a gun is held at your head, how far can you bear it. That too after playing 450 matches. I played badly in only one series. But others are not dropped. I have scored the highest number of runs after comeback," he was quoted as saying by Bengali daily 'Aaj Kaal'. "How long would I have played? May be up to 2009. May be seven more Tests. For that I was not prepared to take any more humiliation," he added. Ganguly said being dropped from the Irani Trophy Rest of India squad by the selection panel led by Vengsarkar was the last nail in the coffin and he thought he had faced enough humilation by then. "I never thought I will be out of the Irani team. I couldn't sleep for one month in anger, agony. Had this committee (new selection committee) come three years ago, things might have been different," said the 36-year-old left hander. When reminded of Sunil Gavaskar's comments that he and VVS Laxman are always put under pressure, Ganguly was at his sarcastic best. "Everything happens in Indian cricket. When Greg Chappell dropped me, he chose T.P. Singh to replace me. Where is he now?" Ganguly asked. "Some have not scored any runs in the last three series, some have not scored any run during the last one year. Some have changed their hair style more number of times than the number of runs they have scored. I was dropped despite scoring the highest number of runs following my comeback." Dropping from the Irani Trophy hurt Ganguly so much that he considered it more painful than being sacked from the team after a spat with then coach Chappell. "Exclusion from the Irani team hurt more. Then I thought, it is the end," he said when asked which of the two was more painful. With all the trials and tribulations in his eventful but illustrious 16-year-long international cricketer, Ganguly is a satisfied man. "I have played 109 tests, over 300 ODIs. I am the fourth highest run getter in the country, the total runs in Tests and ODIs being 18,251. Ninth in the world. I took the team to World Cup final. Defeated Australia in Australia. Won the series in Pakistan, altogether 21 Test wins. But, you don't get everything you want," he said. The Bengal stalwart said he carefully mulled over his retirement decision and thought it was the right time to go. "I have thought over it a lot. I took the decision after considering everything. I thought it was the best time to go. I wanted to end the matter before the (Australia) series started. All speculation was telling on me. The selectors said something and did something else." Asked if he was sad over the fact that he would not play again for India, Ganguly said, "I am also a human being. Cricket is a passion. Anybody will feel sad. But it is not as tough as I thought it will be. Now I feel a huge load has been removed."
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Siddique leads B’desh to rare win
Dhaka, October 9 Chasing 202 for victory, Bangladesh reached their target in the 46th over with seven wickets in hand. Ashraful finished unbeaten on 60. Opener Siddique was named Man of the match after piling up 85 runs in a patient innings which lasted until the 44th over. His 137-ball knock included eight boundaries before he was caught at backward point by Jacob Oram off Mark Gillespie. After opener Tamim Iqbal (12) and Mushfiqur Rahim (30) were dismissed as Bangladesh reached 85-2, Siddique and Ashraful joined forces to frustrate the tourists. While Siddique was happy to stand firm and look for openings to add to his score with singles, Ashraful smashed the ball around to notch up his 15th ODI half-century. Ashraful hit five fours and a six in his 56-ball innings. The pair's 109-run third-wicket partnership put the hosts on course for a rare victory. Earlier Bangladesh's paceman Mashrafe Mortaza and left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak led a potent home attack that ripped through the New Zealand order to restrict them to 201 for nine in 50 overs. Put into bat, Jesse Ryder and Brendon McCullum had given the tourists a solid start on a wicket drenched by overnight rain. But when McCullum was caught by Syed Rasel for 14, it triggered a New Zealand collapse. The visitors went from 47 for no loss to 6-79, losing six wickets for just 32 runs in the space of 11 overs. Ryder scored 34 before he became Mortaza's second victim and then Ross Taylor (2), Jamie How (7), Scott Styris (4) and Daniel Flynn (6) failed to get into double figures. Jacob Oram (57) and captain Daniel Vettori (30) rescued the innings with a seventh-wicket partnership of 70 to steer New Zealand towards a competitive total. All-rounder Oram smacked one six and four boundaries in his 89-ball innings before he was caught at long on by Rasel off a delivery from Razzak. Vettori was caught at fine-leg by debutant Naeem Islam for off Shakib Al Hasan's bowling. Mortaza, who also trapped How lbw and claimed the wicket of Kyle Mills, finished with four for 44 from his 10-over spell. Razzak picked up three for 33, while pace bowler Shahadat Hossain and spinner Shakib chipped in with a wicket apiece. — Reuters Scoreboard New Zealand Ryder c M Ullah b M Mortaza 34 McCullum c S Rasel b M Mortaza 14 How lbw M Mortaza 7 Taylor c Ashraful b S Hossain 2 Styris lbw A Razzak 4 Flynn c M Ullah b A Razzak 6 Oram c S Rasel b A Razzak 57 Vettori c N Islam b Al Hassan 30 Mills c S Hossain b M Mortaza 16 Southee not out 19 Gillespie not out 2 Extras (lb-5, w-5) 10 Total (9 wkts, 50 overs) 201 Fall of wickets: 1-47, 2-55, 3-59, 4-62, 5-65, 6-79, 7-149, 8-174, 9-185 Bowling: M Mortaza 10-3-44-4, S Rasel 2-0-18-0, S Hossain 6-0-29-1, Al Hasan 10-0-30-1, A Razzak 10-0-33-3, N Islam 10-0-34-0, M Ullah 2-0-8-0 Bangladesh Iqbal c Styris b Mills 12 Siddique c Oram b Gillespie 85 Rahim c Ryder b Styris 30 Ashraful not out 60 Al Hasan not out 5 Extras (lb-6 w-4) 10 Total (3 wkts, 45.3 overs) 202 Fall of wickets: 1-18, 2-85, 3-194 Bowling: Mills 7-0-28-1, Gillespie 8.3-1-37-1, Southee 9-0-41-0, Oram 5-0-11-0, Vettori 9-0-48-0, Styris 6-0-23-1, Ryder 1-0-9-0. Player of the match: J Siddique (Bangladesh).
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CT: PCB may go for alternative venues
Karachi, October 9 Butt, who took charge yesterday, said that it was not surprising that the nations are not willing to tour Pakistan, given the situation and so if the International Cricket Council feels it is not safe to host the tournament here, the board would weigh alternative options. "Foreign teams refusing to tour Pakistan is not surprising because of the existing security situation in our country.” "We need to be realistic and we can consider other options if teams refuse to tour Pakistan," Butt told reporters at his first media briefing. Sources said the other alternatives under consideration if the ICC decided to relocate the Champions Trophy included getting hosting rights for the 2010 event or a compensation fee from the ICC. Pakistan was due to host the prestigious tournament from September 12 to 29 but the ICC had to postpone the eight-nation event in August after five teams refused to tour Pakistan because of security and safety fears. Pakistan had to accept the postponement decision after they were told they would remain the hosts in 2009. The ICC executive board will meet in Dubai on October 14 and 15 to reach a consensus on new dates for the Champions Trophy.
— PTI |
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Jeev cards best score
New Delhi, October 9 Playing under steamy conditions, 30-year-old Liang put on a scintillating show to card 12-under 60 to set a new course record by overhauling Shiv Kapur’s 10-under 62, recorded last year. Liang has had top ten finishes on the Asian Tour this year, but he said today’s was one of his best displays. “I always strive to refine my game and keep improving through each week”, said the Chinese player after his record display. In a keen tussle for supremacy, Daniel Chopra of Sweden was one stroke behind Jeev at six-under. Liang had par for the course scores in the first four holes and then the ninth for a total of four under 36. On the return journey, he had pars in the first three, 15th and 18th holes for a tally of two-under 36. “Everything worked well today. My coach Kel Llewellyn provided me with proper guidance. He has coached here once before and he has even played on this course. So his experience was very useful”, remarked the Chinese player. It was, however, the performance of Jeev Milkha Singh that warmed the cockles of the home fans. He hit five birdies and one eagle, with the first nine holes yielding four-under 36 while on the return round, he had a score of three-under 36. “The course is playing excellent. The greens are rolling well and the scoring today has been great”, a beaming Jeev said after the day’s deed was done. Jeev was satisfied that he could come out with his best score in a tournament he has never done well. Jeev was solid and consistent, with his family following his every shot, though his focus was totally on the golf he was playing. “I hit a lot of good bunker and had 100 per cent sand saves”, he said. But he is determined to ink a new chapter in the Indian Open as he would be striving to maintain his good form over the next three days to make a strong bid for the title, though Liang seems to be heading for a big lead. “I must try and do what I did today and play to my best. I am not going to be aggressive like I was last time (at the Emaar-MGF championship) when I missed the cut”, he explained. Jeev said Liang’s score was “incredible”. “I have never had anyone shoot 12-under in a tournament I have played. It was amazing,”Jeev noted.
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Hyderabad, October 9 The ICL season-2, begins with a high octane opening ceremony on October 10 here and will conclude on November 16. The season will witness 41 matches at Hyderabad, Panchkula, Gurgaon and Ahmedabad. Talking to newspersons here, ICL Executive Board member and the former Test cricketer and stumper Kiran More said the winner of the tournament would be awarded Rs 2 crore, while the runner-up would get Rs 1 crore. The incentive for individual performances during the 41-match tournament would be Rs 2 lakh for man-of-the match and Rs 40 Lakh for man-of-the series. Winners of every match in the league-stage would be given Rs 25 lakh and the losing semifinalists would stand to gain Rs 50 lakh each. More said monetary considerations were important for any professional cricketer and the ICL had announced a prize-money package on par with international cricket. “I am sure this will work as a major incentive for all our players and motivate them to give cent per cent to their team and the viewing public every time they take the field”, he added. ICL Executive Board member Bharat Reddy, another former Test cricketer and stumper said the ICL understood the financial prerequisites of professional players. “Along with our endeavour to provide our players with the best of facilities, support staff and training systems, we have also consistently delivered a top-of-the-drawer financial incentive schemes, right since the inception, making ICL the most vibrant and lucrative platform for professional cricketers”, Reddy added. ICL promises to make it an unforgettable experience for television viewers, spectators and cricket lovers across the globe. Nine teams including new entrants Dhaka Warriors will play against each other once in every city. — UNI
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Hong Kong, October 9 Each team will be represented by three players who would compete in both singles and doubles, Hong Kong Tennis Patrons’ Association president Ian Wade said today. There will be a semifinal draw for the teams, with each tie consisting of singles and doubles rubbers. The two teams which score the most number of wins overall will progress to the final. World number one Jelena Jankovic will lead Team Europe, Venus Williams will head the Americas, while Maria Sharapova will be leading Russia. The rest of the field will be announced later. The tournament will replace the JB Group Classic exhibition, which is traditionally a warm-up event for women in the run up to the first Grand Slam of the season in Melbourne in January. — PTI
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Indian shuttlers shine in Bulgarian GP
New Delhi, October 9 Mutatkar defeated Olga Golovanova of Russia 21-18, 21-6 to reach the last 16 stage even as Shruti Kurian lost to Russian Anastasia Proopenko 11-21, 19-21 in the women’s singles second round. Kumar and Thomas got a walkover against Tichomir Kirov and Konstantin Kostadinov of Bulgaria in the men’s doubles while in mixed doubles, Diju and Gutta overcame the French pair of Baptiste Careme and Laura Choinet 21-13, 18-21, 21-12. In men’s singles, Abhimanyu Singh defeated Sune Gavnholt of Denmark 21-18, 13-21, 21-18 and P. Kashyap beat Czech Republic’s Tomas Kopriva 21-14, 21-18 to reach the pre-quarterfinals. Kurian later teamed up with Gutta to breeze past the French pair of Elisa Chanteur and Choinet 21-11, 21-11 in women’s doubles.
— PTI |
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Australian captain Ricky Ponting broke the jinx of a dismal track record on Indian soil by cracking a masterly 123 but India just about managed to restore the balance in the first Test by two late scalps here today.
Dhaka, October 9
Hyderabad, October 9
