 |
|
|
Sachin pulls off momentous win
Sehwag swung the match, Sachin took it away: Pietersen
Sehwag gave India belief
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Dravid retained in Grade A
Another perfect score by Gagan
Punjab thump Hyderabad
Armaan to enter Formula 2
JCT win in Federation Cup
|
|||||||
|
Sachin pulls off momentous win
Chennai, December 15 Shortly after 4 pm, Tendulkar, called a magician by rival skipper Kevin Pietersen, glanced the ball to the fine leg boundary to achieve a truly momentous win on the final day for his team and his 41st Test century, an unbeaten 103. India won in the highest successful fourth innings chase in the sub-continent by making 387 for four, a target the England team thought was unachievable. Building on a course-changing 83 off 68 balls by Virender Sehwag yesterday, Tendulkar and Yuvraj Singh (85 not out) joined hands in a 163-run partnership for the fifth wicket to give their team a win that will rank among the very best since India began Test cricket 75 years ago. This was the biggest fourth innings run chase in the sub-continent, eclipsing Sri Lanka's 352 for nine against South Africa in Colombo. While West Indies have the record of the highest run chase of 418 for 7 against Australia at St. Johns in 2003, India is second in the list for successfully chasing 406 against the West Indies at Port of Spain in 1976. It was the highest ever fourth innings target achieved at any venue in the country, 276 by the West Indies at Delhi in 1987-88 was the previous best. India's best effort in winning a Test match at home when batting last was 256-8 against Australia at Mumbai in the 1964-65 series, but it did make 347 to tie the 1986 Test against Australia in Chennai. The two teams will now travel to Mohali for the second Test beginning on December 19. Resuming at the overnight score of 131 for one, India suffered an early setback when Rahul Dravid (4) got out cheaply yet again. Dravid was out edging Andrew Flintoff to wicketkeeper Matt Prior in third over of the day. But Gambhir and Tendulkar took upon the challenge and at one stage maintained a run rate of around five runs per over, attacking the England bowlers. The duo added 42 runs for the third wicket. Gambhir and Tendulkar never looked under any pressure and took singles and twos without much problem, besides sending the odd bad balls to the ropes. Tendulkar, in particular, was enjoying his batting as he punished the bowlers whenever they gave width to him for playing shots. Tendulkar survived a half chance soon after India crossed the 150 mark. Gambhir was shaping well as he added 24 runs with Dravid and 42 with Tendulkar but one lapse of concentration saw him back in the pavilion. Though there was a slight drop in run flow at the fall of Gambhir, Laxman adapted to the conditions quickly and was in no mood to take any risk against Monty Panesar, who maintained a tight length. With both Tendulkar and Yuvraj holding the aces against the English bowlers, India were in sight of a historic win. Tendulkar, who struck his 52nd fifty and crossed 1000-run mark this year, played the anchor role using his experience to gather runs mostly through singles and twos. England heaved a sigh of relief when Graeme Swann scalped Laxman (42 balls, 4X4) who was out to a bat pad catch by Ian Bell. Yuvraj, after reading the pitch for a while, continued with India's plan of counter-attack and Tendulkar played a good foil keeping one end intact. For a while, Monty Panesar and Swann kept up the pressure and momentarily arrested the flow of runs. But once Tendulkar and Yuvraj brought about their 50 stand with Yuvraj sweeping Panesar Scoreboard India: (First Innings): 241 England: (2nd Innings) (dec for 9): 311 India: (2nd Innings): overnight 131 for 1 Gambhir c C’wood bAnderson 66 Sehwag lbw b Swann 83 Dravid c Prior b Flintoff 4 Tendulkar not out 103 Laxman c Bell b Swann 26 Yuvraj not out 85 Extras: (b-2, lb-14, n-4): 20 Total: (for four wkts, 98.3 overs): 387 FoWs: 1/117, 2/141, 3/183, 4/224. Bowling: Stephen Harmison 10-0-48-0, James Anderson 11-1-51-1, Monty Panesar 27-4-105-0, Andrew Flintoff 22-1-64-1, Graeme Swann 28.3-2-103-2.
|
|
Sehwag swung the match, Sachin took it away: Pietersen
Chennai, December 15 Effusive in his praise for Tendulkar, who struck his 41st Test century and remained unbeaten on 103, Pietersen said every English ploy to get the better of the Indian fell flat on its face. "You cannot write Sachin Tendulkar's script any better. The man from Mumbai came and scored a sensational century today. He batted like a super-star," said Pietersen, who had earlier dubbed the Mumbaikar a "magician". "We tried everything in our means but unfortunately we got stuck and he played well," Pietersen said. Asked whether it was Sehwag's whirlwind 68-ball 83 or Tendulkar's unbeaten ton that made all the difference, Pietersen said, "Sehwag definitely started things happening yesterday. But the way Sachin went about his business today in playing a super, super knock...Sachin played a fantastic game today." Pietersen also praised Yuvraj Singh after the left-hander played a cameo of unbeaten 85 to guide India to a six-wicket victory. "We decided to attack Yuvraj and wanted to get under his skin. We tried our hearts out. But he too played pretty well today," rued the South African-born cricketer. Pietersen admitted it was frustrating to have lost the match they dominated on first three days but insisted they could be proud of their show. "To control the (match) 70 per cent of the time and unfortunately to miss out is a pretty bitter pill to swallow. The boys are not happy in the dressing. But I think that both the teams could be really proud that the way they played a Test match cricket during the last five days after the incident in Mumbai. For both the teams to come after that and play the Test match and put on performances like this, they must be proud of themselves," he said. On the positives from the match, the England captain said some of his teammates managed to make their mark even in defeat. "I think the way (Andrew) Strauss batted was magnificent and the way Strauss and (Alastair) Cook started both the innings were fantastic. (Paul) Collingwood was fantastic as well and then Graeme Swann, on his debut, put on a pretty good performance and tried his heart out in both the innings," he said. Pietersen was quick to dismiss suggestions that a rather slow batting approach by Strauss and Cook denied English bowlers a bigger total to defend. "It is difficult to try and push the issue. Considering the wicket behaviour yesterday, I think our players have done a fantastic job in ushering us in to a position that we should have won the Test match. I do not see any argument why our batsmen batted slow," he said. The captain, however, was not happy with his own performance and said, "I missed a pull shot and a straight ball. It is just a case that I missed out in a Test match. I got a hundred two weeks ago and got a hundred in my last Test match. But, I missed out in this Test match." Though Monty Panesar could not do justice to his reputation in the match, the left-arm spinner still had his captain vouching for him. "I am alright with Monty. People may pick and talk about individuals or their performances. I think, we win as a team and we lose as a team. I may not look at every individuals performance and or low in confidence. We got to pick ourselves for the next one," Pietersen said. Asked how the side would now pick themselves up after the narrow defeat here, Pietersen said, "We need to go and reassess when I get back to the room and speak to a few people. That is how I look at things. Right now, I cannot tell you,” said the England captain. — PTI |
|
Sehwag gave India belief
India registered a truly great win chasing nearly 400 runs in the fourth innings. They have to thank Virender Sehwag, who with his swashbuckling batting gave it the kind of start that put the opposition on the back-foot, and gave India the platform from where the other batsmen could bat in the conventional Test manner. If he hadn't given that start then England would have been able to apply more attacking fields and more men in catching positions.
However, after that blitzkrieg, England had to have an in-and-out field looking to stop the boundaries, and thereby losing out on close fielders for possible half-chances being taken. Gautam Gambhir also was impressive as he gave more strike to his partner and ensured that he wasn't left languishing at the non-strikers end when in that destructive mood. Gambhir also held the innings together after Dravid, woefully out of form, poked tentatively at a delivery he should have left alone and perished. It allowed Tendulkar to settle down and though that partnership was not a big one, it was crucial at that stage of the match. Laxman then came in and played a brilliant cameo that gave the little champion the freedom to play his shots too. This innings will give Tendulkar enormous satisfaction for his mind will have gone back to 1999 when he scored a magnificent century but India fell agonisingly short against arch rivals Pakistan. It will also silence the ignoramuses who question his contribution to India in crunch situations and second innings and what not. It is only in India that a player with over 12,000 runs and 40 centuries will be constantly under the hammer if he fails in one game. Those who query his contribution in the finals of a tournament forget that it is his batting in the earlier rounds that takes India to the finals, and if he doesn't always score in the last game it doesn't mean that he lets the team down. Tendulkar's brilliant batting in the tri-series finals in Australia won India the trophy for the first time earlier in the year, and with this knock no more questions should be entertained about his contribution in the fourth and final innings of a Test match. It was good to see Yuvraj come good too for here is a rare talent which has not yet flowered fully in the Test arena. This innings will make him believe he belongs to this format just as he does in the shorter versions of the game. The way he applied himself and ignored all the chatting done by the English, showed how quickly he had learnt from the first innings where he allowed himself to get embroiled in a verbal encounter, and lost the battle by getting out tamely. His defence on a turning pitch was also pretty good and he now should be set for a long innings in this format for India. There were some outstanding performances in the match. Strauss' century in each innings and Collingwood's gritty ton in the second innings, the technically superb innings from the little champion, and Yuvraj's mature innings are all highlights of a memorable Test match, but the man of the match has to be Virender Sehwag whose audacity and stroke-play gave India the belief that they could do it. Take a bow Viru. You are a winner! — PMG |
|
Dravid retained in Grade A
New Delhi, December 15 The players have been clubbed in four grades in the new contract which would cover the October 2008 - September 2009 period, BCCI Secretary N Srinivasan said in a statement. The quartet of Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Harbhajan Singh and VVS Laxman were promoted to Grade A where they joined Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, M S Dhoni, Zaheer Khan and Yuvraj Singh. All nine cricketers will get an annual retainership of Rs 60 lakhs. Grade 'A' (Rs 60 lakhs): Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, M S Dhoni, Zaheer Khan, V V S Laxman, Harbhajan Singh, Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh. Grade 'B' (Rs 40 lakhs): R P Singh, Munaf Patel, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Ishant Sharma, S Badrinath and Irfan Pathan. Grade 'C' (Rs 25 lakhs): Piyush Chawla, Wasim Jaffer, Yusuf Pathan, Praveen Kumar, Pragyan Ojha, Amit Mishra and S Sreesanth. Grade 'D' (Rs 15 lakhs): Dinesh Kaarthick, Robin Uthappa, Parthiv Patel, Manpreet Gony, Cheteshwar Pujara, Md Kaif, Virat Kohli, Ashoke Dinda, Wriddhiman Saha, Chetanya Nanda, M Vijay, R Ashwin, Shikhar Dhawan and Sudeep Tyagi. — PTI |
|
Another perfect score by Gagan
New Delhi, December 15 Gagan, who had missed a final berth by a whisker in the Olympics this August, scored 400/400 against Jamie Beyerele of the USA who shot 397 in the air rifle event. He had shot down the world record of 600/600 in July in Germany and a perfect 400 late last month at the Bundesliga. “Shooting perfect is always high because we always strive for perfection. For me it's even better than winning a medal, and now l feel very happy to shoot three perfect scores in a very short period. These scores have also helped me in forgetting about the Beijing disappointment," Gagan said. The league has a 40 shot format common to both men and women. “In today’s match I knew Jamie had one point less than me as I had a 100 in the first series and she a 99. Then after she shot the second 9 I decided to keep the lead and not give away any points. Jamie is a slow shooter and if she did not shoot any nines I would have to shoot one to build the pressure on her but she gave me a 2 point lead after which I decided to just go on without letting any gaps.” Gagan had earlier shot a perfect score of 400 against Karin Prediger of the Petersaurach club. “It is tough to beat a shooter like Gagan who shoots perfect scores, he is just too good,” said Jamie after the match. With this win Gagan's team Affalterbach beat Germania Prittlebach 4-1 to enter the knock-out stage of the league where four teams each from north and south will compete in a place called Coburg. Gagan is now being termed as the best shooter of Bundesliga ahead of German world record holder Sonja Fileshifter. Gagan, meanwhile, feels the new rule change brought about by the ISSF (International Shooting Sports Federation) -- those tying for the last place have to go through a play-off to determine the finalist -- would have helped him qualify for the title round in Beijing. However, it was the count back rule in the Olympics that dashed Gagan's hopes. “This new rule would have certainly given me a very good chance to enter the finals but in sports the rules are always the same for everyone. This year is about to end and Beijing Games is already a past. I am looking forward to the year ahead and working towards my next target,” said the ace Indian shooter.— PTI |
|
Punjab thump Hyderabad
Hyderabad, December 15 Chasing a target of 209 runs in their second innings, Punjab lost opener Karan Goel for just three runs with 14 runs on board but Ravi Inder and Sohal batted patiently to get past the target in just 36.2 overs by scoring 211 runs. Ravi Inder faced 143 deliveries for his knock of 112, which included a dozen boundaries while Sohal scored his 91 off just 100 deliveries with eight fours. With this win Punjab earned full five points from the match. Earlier, Punjab bowlers Sarabjit Singh Ladda and Varun Khanna wrecked havoc on the hosts camp, and bundling them out for a paltry 164 in the second innings. Ladda picked up five wickets, while Khanna scalped three. Resuming at the overnight score of 68 for 2, Hyderabad batsmen S Anoop Pai (50) and Anmol Shinde (43) steadied the innings, before falling in quick succession. Struggling at 111 for three, the remaining Hyderabad batsmen added just 53 runs to set Punjab a victory target of 209 runs. Three of the Hyderabad batsmen including A S Yadav, SM Shoaib and AS Shanker were unable to open their accounts. Brief Score Hyderabad (first innings): 335 Punjab (first innings): 291 Hyderabad (second innings): 164 (Anoop Pai 50, Shinde 43; V Khanna 3 for 38, Ladda 5 for 39). Punjab (second innings): 211 for 1 (Sohal 91*, Inder Singh 112*; Sohaib 1 for 36). — PTI Haryana beaten by J & K Chandigarh:Haryana crashed to 44-run defeat agsinst Jammu and Kashmir in the Ranji Trophy Plate Group A match played at Bansi Lal Cricket Stadium, Rohtak, today. After Jammu and Kashmir had taken 29-run first innings lead, Haryana bowlers did well today to restrict Jammu and Kashmir to 173 runs. Seamers - right arm Jitender Billa and left-armer Sanjay Budhwar - combined well to do the damage, claiming four wickets apiece. With 29 ahead in the first innings, Haryana were left to chase 202 runs for victory. Haryana batsmen chose to press the accelerator and go for a victory. Opener P Sahu (38-ball 42) provided an explosive start. N Saini in the middle order, contributed 41-ball 42. Dhruv Singh and Manav Sharma kept up the good work playing some bold strokes. But the efforts were not good enough as the side was bowled out for 158 runs in 27.3 overs, falling short of the target by 44 runs. S Beigh and Arshad Seikh, both seamers, and Ahmad Nizam, left-arm spinner, claimed three wickets each. Scoreboard Haryana (1st innings): 285 J & K (2nd innings): Javed Ahmed b Billa 18 H Ronga lbw b Billa 3 ID Singh b Budhwar 78 A Nizam c Saini b Billa 20 M Joglekar lbw b Billa 2 Shafiq Khan b Rana 3 S Beigh c Sumeet b Budhwar 4 P Ganei c Manav Sharma b Sahu 6 A Baloria not out 22 P Mahajan c Saini b Budhwar 1 A Seikh lbw b Budhwar 0 Extras (b 4, lb 4, w 2, nb 6): 16 Total (all out; 68.4 overs): 173 Fall of wickets: 1-20, 2-35, 3-74, 4-86, 5-95, 6-101, 7-128, 8-155, 9-161, 10-173 Bowling: J Billa 21-4-67-4, S Rana 18-3-39-1, P Sahu 10-3-16-1, Sumeet Sharma 1-0-1-0, A Lavasa 2-0-6-0, S Budhwar 16.4-2-36-4. Haryana (2nd innings): Dewan c Joglekar b Beigh 0 Sahu c Ganei b Mahajan 42 Sunny c Ganei b Beigh 0 Sumeet c Ganei b Beigh 5 Saini b Seikh 42 Rana c Shafiq Khan b Seikh 8 Lavasa b Nizam 1 Dhruv b Nizam 30 Manav b Nizam 14 S Budhwar not out 6 JT Billa b Seikh 0 Extras (b 5, lb 4, w 1): 10 Total (all out; 27.3 overs): 158 Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-0, 3-22, 4-69, 5-91, 6-94, 7-116, 8-144, 9-157, 10-158 Bowling: S Beigh 7-1-39-3, P Mahajan 7-0-44-1, A Nizam 7-0-33-3, AA Seikh 6.3-0-33-3. |
|
Armaan to enter Formula 2
New Delhi, December 15 F2 Series organiser and former F1 driver Jonathan Palmer of Motorsport Vision Ltd confirmed the signing of Armaan for the championship, which starts in April next year. Armaan joined drivers such as Julian Jousse from France who finished second overall in the World Series Renault and Robert Wickens, a junior Red Bull driver who won a couple of A1GP races in 2007-08, who have been the first few contracted drivers with F2. The F2 series, which was conceptualised by FIA for those drivers who cannot afford huge budgets required for GP2 and World Series Renault, will consist of eight rounds with 16 races across Europe. It starts in April with the official test days and the races start in May 2009 and finishes in November. The winner of the F2 Championship will get a test drive with the Williams Formula One team and the top three winners will be awarded a F1 license by the FIA. Armaan, who is undergoing training in Singapore after his very first test in the new Ferrari powered car in Sepang, for A1GP Team India said it was a welcome development for a racer like him who could not find enough sponsors for GP2 Series or World Series Renault Championship. “The F2 Championship is a bold and revolutionary concept and a very beneficial concept for most drivers including myself. I wanted to try to do the GP2 Series or the World Series by Renault for 2009. But had only a 5 per cent chance to find the budgets for those championships as neither am I from a wealthy family, nor are such huge sums of sponsorship money available in India for an upcoming racing driver. “The budget for 2009 that we have to find is in the region of Rs 2 crores. My existing sponsors JK Tyres and Amaron have already confirmed their support for 2009 despite these difficult financial times. I am presently in discussions with BPCL for their continued association with me,” Armaan said. The Williams Formula 1 Team is building the official partners to the championship and all the cars. The cars will be built very close to F1 car specifications adopting the same technology of a F1 car. The engines that will be used are the Audi 1.8litre Turbo charged engines producing 450 BHP with power boost. The gearbox will be a six-speed paddle shift gearbox, which will be very similar to that of the present F1 cars. The F2 Championship will cost 1/4th that of the GP2 Series and half the cost of the World Series Renault Championship. All the 24 cars will be built by the Williams F1 Team at their factory and all the cars will be run by the mechanics and engineers appointed by Palmer Motorsport. Certain suspension mechanisms and the gear ratios as well as the differential settings will be the same for all cars, thereby reducing the cost and cutting down on inventory and more importantly making the cars more equal than before which then puts a lot of focus on the driver rather than the expertise of the team. — PTI |
|
JCT win in Federation Cup
Barasat, December 15 However, their aspirations rest on group leaders East Bengal who take on bottom-placed Sporting Clube de Goa. East Bengal and JCT have six points and a draw will ensure the red-and-golds passage to the last four stage. Sukhwinder Singh’s boys missed as many as three sitters and needed a 15th-minute penalty to ensure full points. New Delhi Heroes midfielder Barrister Rymbat handled the ball inside the box and the referee had no hesitation to point to the spot. JCT’s hopes of increasing the tally were blown away by strikers Balwant Singh and Balraj Singh. Sukhwinder, who was hoping for a better strike rate was disappointed with the outcome. “Players lacked force. We almost missed three-four sitters which would have definitely given us an edge to qualify for the semifinals. Now, it’s very difficult,” said the JCT coach. — PTI |
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
Chennai, December 15
New Delhi, December 15
