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Team confident of whitewash: Harris
‘Curse of IPL’ reason for Oz decline: Report
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Put house in order first: KP to ECB
Bangladesh avoid follow-on
Chennai Open
‘Perfect build-up for Australian Open’
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Clarke (138) leads Aussie recovery
Sydney, January 4 The Proteas' captain Graeme Smith (30), however, could miss the rest of the match due to a broken little finger and was retired hurt after he was hit by a Mitchell Johnson delivery. At stumps, Hashim Amla (30) and Jacques Kallis (36) were at the crease after an out-of-sorts Neil McKenzie (23) was trapped leg before by Peter Siddle and the visitors were still 320 runs behind Australia's first innings total. Earlier in the day, Clarke carried on with his overnight partner Mitchell Johnson (64) who gave his vice-captain some good company much to the frustration of the South Africans. Clarke used his feet effectively against the spin of Paul Harris and was strong off the back foot, also scoring with classic drives and the sort of wristy flicks that are not typical of Australian batsmen. He brought up his first Test century at his home ground here with a hasty single to mid-on that nearly had him run-out for 99. He set off in celebration even as the third umpire was called. Johnson was also responsible for his team's 445 as he scored his highest Test score which came at a time when his team desperately needed it. Australia's tail wagged furiously as the last four pairs contributed 208 with Clarke and Johnson adding 142 runs for the seventh wicket. Clarke patient knock of six hours and 13 minutes had included 17 fours and the Australian vice-captain has refused to back down against South Africa's strong pace attack, scoring 342 runs so far in the series. Clarke was out to a delivery which he could have hit any part of the boundary. The right-hander played a full toss from JP Duminy straight back to the bowler. Johnson followed Clarke in the very next when he edged Dale Steyn to be out caught at slips. However, Nathan Hauritz (41) and Peter Siddle (23) continued to frustrate the visitors and added 59 runs for the ninth wicket before both of them fell to Paul Harris. Steyn and Harris bagged three wickets each for South Africa, while Makhaya Ntini, Kallis, Morne Morkel and Duminy returned with a wicket each to their names. The visitors began their first innings on a solid note but the worrying factor for them would be their captain whose tour is as good as over and is unlikely to bat in any of the innings. Kallis and Amla made sure that they take their team to safety with no more hiccups after the loss of McKenzie. — UNI Scoreboard Australia (1st innings): Hayden b Steyn 31 Katich c de Villiers b Kallis 47 Ponting c Boucher b Morkel 0 Hussey c Kallis b Harris 30 Clarke c & b Duminy 138 McDonald c Boucher b Ntini 15 Haddin b Steyn 38 Johnson c Smith b Steyn 64 Hauritz c Duminy b Harris 41 Siddle lbw b Harris 23 Bollinger not out 0 Extras: (lb-7, w-3, nb-8): 18 Total: (all out in 136.2 overs): 445 Fall of wickets: 1-62, 2-63, 3-109, 4-130, 5-162, 6-237, 7-379, 8-381, 9-440, 10-445. Bowling: D Steyn 27-5-95-3, M Ntini 29-5-102-1, M Morkel 27-3-89-1, J Kallis 20-6-54-1, P Harris 29.2-6-84-3, J Duminy 4-0-14-1. South Africa (1st innings): McKenzie lbw b Siddle 23 Smith retired hurt 30 Amla batting 30 Kallis batting 36 Extras: (lb-2, w-2, nb-2): 6 Total: (for 1 wkt, in 39 overs): 125 Fall of wickets: 0-35 (retired hurt), 1-76. Bowling: P Siddle 10-4-21-1, D Bollinger 10-1-42-0, M Johnson 8-1-28-0, A McDonald 6-2-12-0, N Hauritz 5-0-20-0. — PTI
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Team confident of whitewash: Harris
Sydney, January 4 South Africa, who have an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series, ended day two of the third match 125 for one, after skipper Graeme Smith retired with a broken finger, in reply to Australia's first innings total of 445. Smith's absence compounded the crisis for South Africa who went into the match minus vice-captain Ashwell Prince who is nursing a thumb injury. But an unperturbed Harris said he wasn't too disappointed with the way things have panned out for the Proteas so far in the match. "I don't think we're disappointed at all. It was a hard day but that is Test cricket. You are going to go through those days but it is about how you come back," Harris said. "We have proved that throughout this Test series we have had some pretty rough days in this Test series and we have come back fighting and I expect us to come back fighting tomorrow," he added. Lavishing praise on Smith, Harris said he trusted his captain to forget pain and come out to bat if the visitors needed a few runs to win in the second innings. "I don't think people realise how hard it is to play with the pain that he does have. A lot of guys would have packed it in long ago and had an operation and got better but he has carried on," Harris said. "We respect him for that and he deserves his rest. If we need 10 to win I am pretty sure that Graeme will go in there (to bat)," he asserted.
— PTI We've sniffed a win, says Clarke
Both teams may seem on an even keel at this stage but Australian vice-captain Michael Clarke claims the hosts have sniffed a win in the third and final cricket Test here today. Resuming on 267 for six, Australia did well to post 445 runs - 138 of which came from Clarke's bat. In reply, South Africa finished the day at 125 for one with opener Neil McKenzie (23) back in the hut and captain Graeme Smith (30 retired hurt) suffering a nasty finger injury which ruled him out of action for six weeks. "We've got a sniff at the moment of winning this Test match. We've got runs on the board on a wicket that is going to get a little bit up and down," Clarke said after the day's play. According to him, the wicket would be unpredictable and Australia's three-pronged pace attack of Mitchell Johnson, Doug Bollinger and Peter Siddle would prove quite a handful. "It's going to stay along the ground and a couple as we've already seen can take off. So I think the quicks will play more of a part in both second innings," Clarke said.
— PTI |
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‘Curse of IPL’ reason for Oz decline: Report
Melbourne, January 4 'Sydney Morning Herald' wrote it could be coincidence but Australian cricketers who played in the IPL in April-May last year were either “injured, worn out or found themselves distracted by intoxications of India”. It then said those who were not lured by IPL money like Clarke and Johnson have been the "saviour" of the team, which is in the danger of losing the world champion tag. "Whatever the cause, Australian cricketers, at Test and first-class levels, have struggled since their return from last year's inaugural Twenty20 tournament on the subcontinent. Could it be cricket's version of the pact with the devil - every incremental increase in the bank account is matched by a corresponding fall in your figures. "Gone, or at least severely impaired, is the ability to score runs and take wickets. Call it the curse of the Indian Premier League," the newspaper wrote. "Australia's elite spent only a short spell in the IPL. It may just be pure coincidence. Cause and effect are notoriously difficult to establish within a cricketer's career,” it added. Among the “list of the fallen”, the newspaper named Hayden, Michael Hussey, Symonds and Brett Lee who “have figures showing a remarkable decline in productivity when the year before the IPL and the nine months since are compared”. “Hayden damaged his Achillies tendon, missed the tour of the West Indies and has never recovered his mojo. In the year before the IPL, Hayden crunched 503 runs at 62.87. Since then he has laboured his way to 344 at an average of 22.93." On Mike Hussey, it said, "Hussey owned the world's best Test average among current batsmen when he entered the circus ring. His year before produced the customary volume of runs at 73.87. Halve it and more, with an average since the IPL of 32.19." "Symonds lost his way after Indian sojourn, eventually losing his bearings completely and his place in the team. He got it back but without the form of the previous year (his batting dropping from 85.50 to 39.18). "Before the IPL, Lee led the attack with with wickets coming at a sterling average of 20.57; since then his average has blown out to 36.69 and he may have only avoided the indignity of being dropped for his home Test by instead having surgery to repair foot and ankle injuries." Ponting alone among the Test players who ventured to India, has continued his career with the same level of productivity. Before IPL (45.33) and after (43.86) are virtually unchanged, the newspaper said. “But look at those who eschewed the loot? Clarke has become the mainstay of the Australian batting line-up, his average dipping slightly from 66.50 to 57.53. Haddin has established himself behind the stumps and pushes 40 with the bat. Johnson is our leading bowler, with 50 wickets at 27.44 since avoiding the entrapments of IPL, compared with a Test average in the year before of 32.12." — PTI
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Put house in order first: KP to ECB
London, January 4 "Obviously this situation is not healthy, we have to make sure it is settled as soon as possible and certainly before we fly off to the West Indies," the England captain told 'The News of the World' tabloid. "Everything has to be hunky dory, everybody has to have the same aims and pull in the same direction for the good of the England team," added Pietersen, who prepares to return from holiday in South Africa and meet England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) Manging Director Hugh Morris who has been entrusted with the job of brokering peace between Pietersen and Moores. Morris has already met Moores but the England coach is believed to be on his way out after losing the captain's trust. "There is no way Pietersen and Moores can work together, they're just too far apart," a 'dressing-room source' was quoted as saying. "The ECB are caught in the middle of this and are damned if they do and damned if they don't. If they back KP, then there's massive problems among the backroom staff. But if they go with the coach, then the best player becomes disillusioned, they possibly lose a captain and there is a huge fracture." It started at Chennai
The bad blood between England skipper Kevin Pietersen and head coach Peter Moores might have come to light now but the "tipping point" of the rift was the English team's recent Chennai Test loss to India, according to a British newspaper. "The flunked Madras Test just over a fortnight ago seems to have been Pietersen's tipping point," Sunday Telegraph reported today. "Embarrassed tactically in failing to defend a target of 387, he felt help was not forthcoming enough. At some later stage in India it appears he let the relevant people know that he wanted Moores out," it added. The difference between the two men can be traced back to Pietersen donning the captaincy hat. "For it seems the captain has long had enough. Michael Vaughan's omission from the West Indies tour party, after Pietersen (who is not a selector) expressly asked for his inclusion, was a factor, but undoubtedly not the stimulus. "Pietersen has never rated Moores. He had to seek assurances from the coach before accepting the captaincy last August and has combined uneasily with him ever since. It was always a marriage of convenience. The rumours have not been subtle," the newspaper reported.
— PTI |
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Bangladesh avoid follow-on
Chittagong, January 4 Bangladesh toiled hard to avoid batting in successive innings after losing their ninth wicket for 145 runs in reply to Sri Lanka’s 384 with Mortaza and Shahadat Hossain striking a defiant final wicket partnership. They frustrated the visitors for more than an hour, adding 63 runs before Mortaza was caught by Tillakaratne Dilshan off Muttiah Muralitharan at deep midwicket for 63. Chaminda Vaas had earlier removed both openers Tamim Iqbal (0) and Imrul Kayes (6) before a full-toss ball from Dilhara Fernando uprooted the middle-stump of Zunaed Siddique, who made 28.
— Reuters Sri Lanka (first innings) 384 Bangladesh (first innings) T Iqbal c P Jayawardene b Vaas 0 I Kayes lbw b Vaas 6 Z Siddique b Fernando 28 R Hassan lbw b Mendis 0 M Ashraful c M Jayawardene b Muralitharan 45 M Hossain lbw b Mendis 18 S Hasan lbw b Mendis 0 M Rahim st P Jayawardene b Mendis 21 M Mortaza c Dilshan b Muralitharan 63 E Haque c P Jayawardene b Muralitharan 4 S Hossain not out 5 Extras: (b-5 lb-5 nb-8) 18 Total: (in 76.2 overs) 208 all out Fall of wickets: 1-0 2-26 3-33 4-65 5-90 6-90 7-122 8-136 9-145 Bowling: Vaas 10-5-21-2, Fernando 18-4-44-1 (n-b4), Mendis 28-5-71-4, Muralitharan 20.2-6-62-3 Sri Lanka (second innings) M Warnapura batting 7 P Jayawardene batting 6 Extras: 0 Total: (in five overs) 13 for no loss Bowling: Mortaza 2-1-5-0, Shahadat 1-0-4-0, Shakib 1-0-1-0, Enamul 1-0-3-0. |
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Ranji Semis
Chennai, January 4 Six Saurashtra bowlers toiled for 90 overs and the lone success of the day came when Rakesh Dhurv trapped Mumbai opener Vinayak Samant (49). At stumps, Jaffer had Ajinkya Rahane (52) for company after the duo had completed their individual 1,000 runs this season. Jaffer’s fluent unbeaten 162 came off 275 balls with 19 fours. Rahane overcame a shaky start to hit two fours and a six en route to his unbeaten 154-ball 52. Jaffer put on 91 runs with Samant before adding 177 runs in 55 overs for the unbroken second wicket stand. On a batting paradise, Jaffer didn’t hesitate to bat first and the Mumbai skipper, along with Samant and Rahane, milked the Saurashtra attack.
Scoreboard Mumbai (1st innings): V Samant lbw b Dhurv 49 W Jaffer batting 162 A Rahane batting 52 Extras (b-2, lb-2, nb-1) 5 Total (for 1 wicket, 90 overs) 268 Fall of wicket: 1-91. Bowling: S Jobanputra 20-6-50-0, B Jadeja 21-1-72-0, R Jadeja 25-2-57-0, R Dhurv 18-2-65-1, K Makvana 2-0-13-0, S Kotak 4-0-7-0. TN on top as Mukund slams ton
Nagpur: Abhinav Mukund feasted on Uttar Pradesh’s pedestrian attack and slammed his fourth century of the season as Tamil Nadu cruised to 296 for two on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy semifinal match here today. Dinesh Karthik’s decision to bat first stood vindicated as Mukund (100) and Murali Vijay (69) added 167 runs for the opening stand before both fell in a span of seven overs. S Badrinath (59) and Karthik (58) continued the good work and remained unbeaten at stumps, having added 114 runs for the third wicket stand.
— PTI Tamil Nadu (1st innings): Mukund c Amir Khan b B Kumar 100 Vijay c Praveen b Parvinder 69 Badrinath batting 59 Karthik batting 58 Extras (b-5, nb-1, w-4): 10 Total ( 2 wickets in 91 overs): 296 Fall of wickets: 1-167 2-182 Bowling: Praveen Kumar 24-4-70-0; Bhuvneswar Kumar 18-5-47-1; Imtiyaz Ahmed 12-1-48-0; Piyush Chawla 13-2-57-0; Praveen Gupta 11-3-47-0; Parvinder Singh 13-5-21-1. |
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Chennai Open
Chennai, January 4 Bopanna beat his compatriot 6-3, 6-4 in the second round and remains the only Indian in contention as other four players from the host nation fell to their opponents. Bopanna has has a tough match in hand as he faces Germany’s second seed Michael Berrer, who ousted India’s newly crowned national champion Ranjeet Virali Murugesan 6-1, 6-1 in his second round match. Rohan Gajjar, N Sriram Balaji and Vignesh PC Sekar bowed out after losing their matches to Alex Satschko, Kyu Tae IM and Alexandre Kudryatsev, respectively. Germany’s seventh seed Satschko beat Gajjar 6-2, 6-4 while wild card Balaji put up a spirited fight before losing 0-6, 7-6, 2-6 to his Korean eighth seed opponent. Fifth seed Kudryatsev ousted Vignesh 6-1, 7-6 in his second round match.
— PTI |
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‘Perfect build-up for Australian Open’
Chennai, January 4 “First tournament in any season is never easy. But I hope it is going to be better than last season,” Wawrinka said at a press conference on the eve of Chennai Open. Wawrinka, who won gold with Roger Federer at Beijing Olympics, wants to start the season on a winning note and has set his eyes on breaking into the top-eight zone this year. “I have a good chance to win but like I said before, the first tournament is never easy. I will see how it goes after the first match”. — PTI
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London, January 4
