Chennai, December 13
First-innings centurion Andrew Strauss struck another half-century to help England regain the ascendancy in the first Test against India on Saturday.

Left-handed opener Strauss hit 73 not out and added 129 for the fourth wicket with Paul Collingwood, who remained undefeated on 60, to lift the tourists out of trouble after they lost three quick wickets.

England were 172 for three at the close on the third day to take their overall lead to 247 with seven wickets remaining.

The tourists had gained a 75-run first innings lead after bowling out India for 241
in the first over after lunch, but the hosts struck back by reducing England to 34
for three.

Strauss, who scored 123 in the first innings, and Collingwood saw England through a difficult period. The pair got on top of the attack, forcing the home spinners to briefly operate to a packed leg-side field to stem the flow of runs.

Strauss, who survived an early reprieve and hit five fours, brought up his 50 and the team's 100 with a square drive to the fence off leg-spinner Amit Mishra.

Fast bowler Ishant Sharma struck an early blow in England's second innings when he had opener Alastair Cook poking outside off-stump to be caught behind for nine.

Mishra and part-time spinner Yuvraj Singh struck in successive overs to shake the top-order.

Mishra, who took three wickets in the first innings, had patchy Ian Bell caught at short-leg by Gautam Gambhir for seven.

Yuvraj struck with his first ball when he had captain Kevin Pietersen leg-before.

England spinner Monty Panesar struck two crucial blows after India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni hit his third successive Test fifty to help the side rally after resuming on 155 for six.

Dhoni (53) took his overnight seventh-wicket stand with Harbhajan (40) to 75 before Panesar dismissed the two to help England regain control. The spinner finished with three for 65.

Dhoni, 24 overnight, batted with poise to help India move closer to England's first innings total before being ninth out, caught at long-off in the deep by Pietersen.

Harbhajan hit fast bowler Steve Harmison for two fours in one over but was
eventually caught at short-leg by Bell after Panesar had replaced Harmison in
the attack.

Scorecard

England (1st Innings): 316

India (1st Innings) (155-6 overnight):

Gambhir lbw b Swann 19

Sehwag b Anderson 9

Dravid lbw b Swann 3

Tendulkar c & b Flintoff 37

Laxman c & b Panesar 24

Yuvraj c Flintoff b Harmison 14

Dhoni c Pietersen b Panesar 53

Harbhajan c Bell b Panesar 40

Zaheer lbw b Flintoff 1

Mishra b Flintoff 12

Ishant not out 8

Extras (b-4, lb-11, nb-6): 21

Total (all out, 69.4 overs): 241

Fall of wickets: 1-16 2-34 3-37 4-98 5-102 6-137 7-212 8-217 9-219

Bowling: Harmison 11-1-42-1, Anderson 11-3-28-1, Flintoff 18.4-2-49-3 (nb-6), Swann 10-0-42-2, Panesar 19-4-65-3

England (2nd innings):

Strauss not out 73

Cook c Dhoni b Ishant 9

Bell c Gambhir b Mishra 7

Pietersen lbw b Yuvraj 1

Collingwood not out 60

Extras (b-5, lb-8, nb-7, w-2): 22

Total (three wickets, 54 overs): 172

Fall of wicket: 1-28 2-42 3-43

Bowling: Zaheer 14-3-21-0 (w-2), Ishant 10-0-31-1 (nb-7), Mishra 11-0-47-1, Yuvraj 2-1-7-1, Harbhajan 11-0-31-0, Sehwag 6-0-22-0. — Reuters

Chennai, December 13
England's experienced batsman Paul Collingwood reckons his unfinished partnership with Andrew Strauss will serve as an example for his teammates who just have to "change their mindset" when playing in sub-continental conditions.

With England losing three quick wickets in their second essay of the first Test against India, it was left to Collingwood (60) and first innings centurion Strauss (73) to put on an unfinished 129-run partnership that steered the visitors to a comfortable 172 for three at stumps on Day three.

"We lost three quick wickets. It was important that we made a partnership there. It is a crucial one. I was confident at the crease," Collingwood said after the match.

"It is very satisfying for the kind of innings we played. As a player you do realise situations and make a contribution. Today it was one of such situations", he said.

"It is not a technique adjustments but it is about maximum adjustments all the time. We do them all the time. In such adverse conditions it is more about mind set. I have been through this kind of situations in the past", Collingwood said.

He said it was imperative for the batsmen to concentrate hard in Indian conditions, particularly against the spinners.

"I made good of my batting. When you play in India you require utmost concentration and one silly mistake against the spinners and you are gone", he said.

"The way Strauss and I played today it is example for the rest of us and hopefully we continue in the same way. As for my individual batting today, I put it down to being a professional cricketer and sometime you got to play in some sort of adverse conditions," Collingwood said. "

"We wanted to be hundred per cent focused to one simple goal. So far we have done pretty well," he added.

The all-rounder though refused to put numbers behind the victory target.

"We have not discussed anything as a team. We wanted to have few good partnerships. The pitch is breaking up. Even for the seamers it will break up. We would like to get as many runs as possible."

Talking about their plan of action against the Indian bowling attack, Collingwood said, "The pitch was crumbling. Even when seamers were bowling few deliveries were exploding. Not exactly coming flying to the wicket. The track was pretty slow.

"It is crucial that we get reverse swing as well when we come to bowl. We tried to stick to our plans as well as possible against the seamers and the spinners taking ones and twos."

Collingwood, though, revealed that he did not feel much pressure when going out into the crease.

"I was not under such pressure today. I was pretty comfortable at the crease. I just wanted to go and make some runs today," he said. — PTI

Good old fashioned application from Andrew Strauss and Paul Collingwood has put England in a position of strength in the first Test.

This is not an easy pitch to play shots on, and in India the important thing is to spend as much time at the crease as possible, for that way it gets easier.

Of course there are batsmen with extraordinary gifts like Virender Sehwag for whom most pitches make no difference whatsoever, and it is fear of him that will make England think twice before looking to set any target for the Indians to chase in the second innings.

There was a general feeling that India were complacent, but it was more like over confidence and not complacency that got the top batsmen out.

That on this slow surface England’s spinners have taken 6 wickets does not speak well for India’s batsmen, and they would have had further embarrassment if Harbhajan had not played another top innings and shared a good partnership with skipper Dhoni.

He has always taken his batting seriously and now has begun to show good temperament too, as he is prepared to knuckle down and wait for runs.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni too is no longer the swashbuckling batsman whom the crowds took to heart, but a much more solid player now, and with captaincy is showing more responsibility.

He did get out trying to go for the big six but that is a shot he now attempts only when India is chasing quick runs or looking for a declaration.

He would have been disappointed at the efforts of his top batsmen for the bowlers had done well to restrict England to 316, when it looked like they would be getting more than 400 after that century opening start from Strauss and Cook.

Strauss, the centurion in the first innings, is again standing firm and unless England is dismissed within another 100 runs, India will be in serious trouble. India’s bowling looked lacklustre, and with no inspiration whatsoever when Strauss and Collingwood got entrenched.

Collingwood is in a similar situation like Dravid where his place in the team is being queried, but he was not put under any pressure whatsoever, and so he grittily built his innings and is now past a half century.

Strauss is looking to score a century in each innings and unless India pull out something special he will get it.

He is a no nonsense player who plays within his limitations, and frustrates the bowlers rather than destroy them. India are looking down the barrel alright and they know it. — PMG

Moscow, December 13
Akhil Kumar (54kg) fought hard but fell short of luck, losing
on count-back to Olympic silver medallist Yankiel Leon Alarcon
in the semifinals to settle for a bronze medal - along with
Jitender Kumar (51kg) and A L Lakra (57kg) and Dinesh Kumar
(81kgs) also lost against Artur Beterbiev - at the AIBA Boxing
World Cup here today.

The gritty 27-year-old matched his Cuban rival blow-for-blow all through the bout at the end of which the duo was tied 4-4. But the ensuing count-back found Akhil trailing Alarcon in the overall tally of punches given by the judges.

In a cliffhanger of a bout, Akhil and Alarcon were cautious to start with and the opening round ended 0-0. The two exchanged a couple of blows in the second round to be locked 2-2.

The third round had Alarcon leading by a point but Akhil managed to bridge the small gap by scoring the only point of the fourth and final round.

“I had worked out a defensive plan for today and he, it seemed, had a similar strategy. We both remained cautious and though I lost, I can proudly say that I gave it my best,” Akhil told PTI.

Earlier, Jitender Kumar (51kg) showed early promise before running out of steam against Olympic silver medallist Hernandez Laffita, losing 6-14. The Haryana-boxer led 4-2 in the first round but Laffita bounced back to blank Jitender 3-0 in the second round.

The next two rounds also belonged to the Cuban, who landed 11 scoring punches against Jitender’s two to romp home comfortably. “I did pretty well in the first round but lost my composure in after that. It happens but I am happy with the way I performed,” said Jitender.

A L Lakra also put up a brave fight against Cuban Idel Torriente but eventually lost 3-6 to settle for the third spot. Later in the day, Dinesh Kumar (81kgs) also lost his semifinal bout against Artur Beterbiev 1-10 when he threw his towel after the second round, bringing curtains to Indian challenge in the World Cup with four bronze medals. — PTI

Buenos Aires, December 13
Captain Diwakar Ram struck a brace as an energetic India exhibited flair and fluency to beat Holland 3-2 in the Under-21 hockey Test match at Club Ciudad de Buenos Aires here today.

Diwakar scored with the dragflicks in the 17th and 51st minutes while right winger Mandip Antil scored a field goal in the 24th minute.

India were in total command of the proceedings with dominant midfield play and ball possession as they rapidly interchanged positions and baffled the Dutch with superb off the ball moves. They led 2-0 at the lemon break.

Holland, who were at sea during most part of the match, got both goals from penalty corners in the 43rd minute and at the stroke of full time.

India brought in Belsajar Horo and Amardeep Ekka in the central midfield replacing Vivek and Vikas Sharma.

The hard working Horo controlled his space with elan not only with his accurate distribution but also timely interceptions to deny Holland create sorties. — PTI

Chandigarh, December 13
It was the England and Wales Cricket Board that had proposed Chennai, Bangalore or Mohali as the Test venues in place of Mumbai and Ahmedabad, the venues originally slated to host two Tests against England.

The England players had refused to play the two-Test series in Mumbai and Ahmedabad and they retured home when they were trailing 0-5 in the seven-match ODI series following the unprecedented terrorist strikes in Mumbai, which claimed 178 lives.

Sources in the BCCI refuted the claims that Mohali had been favoured over other venues in the matter of hosting the second Test against England from December 19.

And the authorities in the Punjab Cricket Association countered that they had no other option but to give approval “in the national interest”

Concerns were raised in the media regarding Mohali as the second Test venue because the PCA organised the second Test against Australia from October 17 to 21, which India won by a whopping margin of 320 runs and as per the rotation policy of the BCCI, it could not have been allotted another Test just after two months.

Rattled by the terrorist strikes, the ECB firmly ruled out the entire belt of venues along the western part of the country or any other coastal venues, BCCI sources revealed here today. “It were the (ECB) who opted to play only in Chennai, Bangalore or Mohali,” the sources said.

“But the southern part of the country facing the likelihood of rains, the BCCI did not think it prudent to allot both the Tests at Chennai and Bangalore. Hence, to salvage the Test series, Chennai and Mohali were chosen as the two venues,” sources said.

In fact, the PCA were asked to organise the three-day practice game as well as the first Test (currently under way in Chennai).

But the PCA Stadium, having organised just one Ranji game this season (the rest have been away games), was not considered fit to unexpectedly hold the two international games, M P Pandove, BCCI treasurer, told the TNS.

“After the Ranji match against Rajasthan (November 10-13), Punjab have played only away games. Since the stadium was not expecting any match so early, the upkeep of the ground was not good enough to host a Test. Hence, we declined to host the three-day practice game, but gave approval to host second Test so that we had some time to get the venue in order for the December 19-23 Test,” Pandove, who is also PCA secretary, revealed.

“In winter it is not easy to get the green cover on the wicket easily. We are making the best possible efforts in whatever time we have to have a good game of cricket,” he said.

Chandigarh, December 13
Haryana were trailing by 201 runs with 6 wickets remaining in the first innings on the second day in the first innings in the Ranji Trophy Plate Group A match against Jammu & Kashmir being played at Bansi Lal Cricket Stadium, Rohtak, today.

After left-arm pacer Sanjay Budhwar restricted Jammu and Kashmir to 314 with a five-wicket haul, hosts’ batting came a cropper.

Barring Sumeet Sharma, who scored 49, none of the batsmen came good as they crawled to 113 losing four wickets in 51 overs.

J & K (1st innings) 314.

Haryana (1st innings):